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Topics: Tyson Fury, Boxing, Anthony Joshua, Oleksandr Usyk, Eddie Hearn, Heavyweight Boxing
Joe Adams
Topics: Tyson Fury, Boxing, Anthony Joshua, Oleksandr Usyk, Eddie Hearn, Heavyweight Boxing
Tyson Fury has been urged to fight unbeaten heavyweight Filip Hrgovic after his potential fights against Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua fell through.
Fury was due to face fellow heavyweight champion Usyk in an undisputed clash on April 29 but the pair failed reach an agreement.
'The Gypsy King' then turned his attention to compatriot, Joshua, proposing a fight for September. However, Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn denied ever receiving the contract.
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Hearn has since told Fury that he should fight Hrgovic in the meantime, while a blockbuster fight against either Usyk or Joshua is arranged.
"When you look at the rankings, say you’re playing matchmaker for Tyson Fury. If AJ fights Dillian Whyte then Wilder and Usyk fights Dubois. I’ll tell you if he wants, he can fight Filip Hrgovic. If he is looking for an opponent, we've got the Hrgovic fight " Hearn told Boxing Social on YouTube.
"Tyson Fury is smart, he doesn't want a risky fight. Before Joe Joyce got beat he kept saying 'Yeah once I've fought Usyk then you can get it Joyce' because he didn't really fancy the Joyce fight. I know he thinks he can win the fight but he will only take those big fights if the money is massive."
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However, Hearn suggested that Fury would reject the fight due to the Croatian's lesser known status.
"So there you go, if you're looking for an opponent what about Filip Hrgovic," Hearn continued. "He is mandatory for the IBF and Fury will probably say 'Oh, no one has ever heard of Filip Hrgovic so I'm not fighting him,' but there will always be a line."
Hrgovic burst onto the scene in 2017 after winning bronze at the Olympic games in Rio the previous year. The 31-year-old has since won two International heavyweight titles.
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He last fought on the undercard of Joshua's rematch against Usyk, defeating Zhilei Zhang via a unanimous, but arguably generous decision, thrusting himself into world title contention.
While Fury's promoter Frank Warren argued a similar point to Hearn last August, stating that Joshua should fight Hrgovic.
“Who is Joshua going to fight in August? They’re s****ing off Tyson who is offering him the fight on a 60/40 chance of fighting for the world title," Warren told talkSPORT.
"Who are you going to fight? If he’s not going to fight Tyson, why doesn’t he fight the other guy that’s in their camp, Hrgovic."