Hrgovic vs. Zhang Tops an Appealing Usyk-Joshua Undercard

Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua lock horns for the second time on Aug. 20. The rematch at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, is pinned to an interesting undercard. The heavyweight match between Filip Hrgovic and Zhilei Zhang is a true crossroads fight which is rather redundant as the IBF has ordained it an “eliminator.”

Hrgovic (pictured) and Zhang are both listed at six-foot-six, but Zhang, a two-time Olympian and 2008 silver medalist, is the bigger man. During the end days of his amateur career and in his early pro fights he was trained by Lou Duva which explains how he came to settle in New Jersey. “Big Bang” made his pro debut in the cowboy town of Fallon, Nevada, of all places, and is currently undefeated (24-0-1, 19 KOs).

Hrgovic (14-0, 12 KOs) has appeared in fewer pro fights and appeared in only one Olympiad — turning heads with a TKO of Cuban standout Lenier Pero before losing a narrow decision to eventual gold medalist Tony Yoka — but has almost the same level of experience. As a semi-pro, he was the king of the 5-rounders, racking up a 26-4 record in the World Series of Boxing.

What Hrgovic does have going for him is youth. At 30 years old, he’s nine years younger than his Chinese opponent.

The draw on Zhang’s record occurred in a strange 10-round fight. After knocking down Jerry Forrest in each of the first three rounds, he ran out of gas by the fifth and barely made it to the final bell. His fade-out was attributed to a medical issue, a one-time problem with his metabolism, rather than poor conditioning. He has won two fights since then, most recently a one-round blast-out of LA journeyman Scott Alexander who hadn’t previously been stopped. That fight was on the undercard of Canelo vs. Bivol on May 7.

Alexander was subbing for Hrgovic who withdrew from that fight. No official reason was given, but the general understanding was that it was related to the death of his father in April which disrupted his training camp.

Before Zhilei Zhang stepped up to the plate, Croatia’s Hrgovic was stamped the sport’s most avoided heavyweight. The IBF “eliminator” was offered to Michael Hunter, Luis Ortiz, and Joseph Parker, all of whom went in a different direction after initially indicating they were keen on accepting the match.

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There are several other intriguing preliminaries on the Aug. 20 Matchroom promotion. Hartford, Connecticut’s Richard “Popeye the Sailor Man” Rivera is jumping up in class to meet Badou Jack, a former world title-holder at 168 and 175 who now competes as a cruiserweight.

This will be Jack’s fourth straight fight in this part of the world which gives him something of a home field advantage, but we don’t consider him a lock. At age 38, the Sweden-born Jack is getting long in the tooth and “Popeye” brings more to the table than did each of Jack’s last three opponents.

Badou Jack’s career has had a very unconventional arc. That’s a story for another day.

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