Top Heavyweight Prospect Filip Hrgovic Crushes Amir Mansour in Three

Heavyweight Filip Hrgovic was due to meet journeyman Gary Cornish in Zagreb, Croatia tonight but when that fight fell through the 6’6” 233lb prospect replaced him not with an equal soft touch but with the experienced Amir Mansour. Mansour, who was well on his way to a victory over Dominic Breazeale in 2016 when he was forced to retire after accidentally biting down on his own tongue, is a fringe contender. The freak accident against Breazeale had been his only stoppage loss to date.

Until tonight when Hrgovic, reminiscent of a young Vitali Klitschko, clubbed Mansour into submission in just three short, direct rounds.

In complete control from the very first bell, Hrgovic’s authority over distance was absolute. Ugly half-feints underlining his advantage in height and reach kept Mansour on his toes and on the move; hands low, very much in the gunslinging style of Vitali, Hrgovic showed little interest in using his fists for defense, or indeed anything that didn’t involve punching his smaller but more seasoned foe.

Being moved around with the left made Mansour nervous, but when Hrgovic landed his first right hand of the night the American seemed immediately troubled. His retreat suddenly became disorganized, his lunging attack ridiculous. Hrgovic continued to hurt him with the jab, escaping with a quick step – taking him straight back, it should be noted – that re-established his control of range whenever his man got heated.

Mansour is nothing if not brave but he was so completely out-classed in that first it was difficult to consider a reasonable plan for him in the second. Strategy is hard to establish when a fighter is on the wrong end of a physical and technical mismatch. Southpaw veterans are supposed to set tricky tactical problems for inexperienced prospects by default. It seems Hrgovic is a little different.

He trapped Mansour in the middle of the ring with as much ease as he did three of the four corners through the second. Mansour’s only respite came when Hrgovic appeared to land a shot around the back of his head; after a brief break and a warning for Hrgovic, the torture began again.

But it didn’t last. While it is hard to be certain which of the many stiffening rights and lefts began Mansour’s slide, I think it is fair to say that his morale was broken before the round even began.  Desperate swings betrayed his panic and a steady stream of abuse made the knee he chose to take at 1:20 of the third remaining inevitable. Mansour showed heart in reclaiming his feet but was completely unable to land a meaningful punch, twisting purposelessly on the ropes as Hrgovic battered him. He had one more press with thirty seconds of the round remaining but as Hrgovic detonated consecutive bombs on that iron jaw, Mansour pitched forwards. There he stayed, a rueful smile on his face, hearing, for the first time in his career, “10”.

Hrgovic turned in a flawless performance.  He looked nothing less than a natural fighter, and a special one. He cracked an elite jaw and solved a singular puzzle with no more effort than if he had been sparring a straight-backed amateur.

Mansour is not good enough that we are able to call this Hrgovic’s graduation night and nor, I think, does it mean we will be seeing him only against fighters of Mansour’s quality from here on in. Hrgovic needs to stay busy and that will mean one or two more foes with more in common with Cornish than Mansour. It does mean that his team can relax a little though, about the tougher challenges that lie ahead and it may force a promotional hand in hunting down more appropriate opposition.

Hrgovic, I think, will go far, and he remains my pick of the heavyweight prospects currently but as we all know, when it comes to the heavyweights dramatic changes are never far away.

Defense has been the issue for Hrgovic so far, however, and tonight looked like an improvement. It seems he will never learn to pick off punches with his gloves and that’s a shame because it places upon him the requirement of iron chin, but those quick moves to re-take distance were lovely. If a fighter can control the ring and understand the space, then he is harder to hit by his very nature.

There were early signs tonight that Hrgovic could become such a fighter.

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