Filip Hrgovic: Anthony Joshua and Fabio Wardley 'shouldn't be fighting anymore' — 'I felt sorry for him'
· Yahoo Sports
IBF heavyweight champion Filip Hrgovic is picking Tyson Fury to defeat Anthony Joshua in their British heavyweight mega-fight on Dec. 11.
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"I think Fury [wins], based on Joshua's last performance," Hrgovic told Uncrowned's "The Ariel Helwani Show" Wednesday. "You saw that [Joshua] was fighting a journeyman and he went down in 10 seconds from such a soft punch. It was crazy. I couldn't believe what I saw. I think he's done.
"He shouldn't be fighting anymore. But he wants to do, of course, one more fight. I think he's going to make a huge amount of money, and he's doing it because of that, but I think he shouldn't be fighting anymore.
"When I saw that last fight, I felt sorry for him,” Hrgovic added, “because [for] the fight, he said he shut all his businesses to focus on boxing. He changed his coach for the 20th time. He started to work with [Oleksandr] Usyk's team. He did everything he could do. And then he comes to the fight with a journeyman and he goes down in 10 seconds."
Joshua was floored twice by the unheralded Kristian Prenga in July, but he recovered to knock Prenga out in a two-round firefight in Riyadh. Now 37 years old, "AJ" has not beaten a heavyweight contender at the world level in almost three years.
Since his fifth-round knockout defeat to Daniel Dubois in September 2024, Joshua has had just two fights — first against Jake Paul last December, and second against Prenga this summer. The Brit has been battling injuries and the emotional and physical impact from a devastating car crash that took the lives of two of his closest friends.
"Yeah, [he should never fight again] based on how he looked in his last fight," Hrgovic said. "It was a disaster, and he's just not there. In boxing, you come to the point where — it's not football, it's not basketball, it's not soccer; in boxing, you come to the point where you can't fight anymore.
"It's a dangerous sport. It's a war. And I think you come to a point where you can't fight anymore. You can't mess around with boxing."
Whatever happens between Joshua and Fury on Dec. 11 — which could see the winner crowned as WBA (Super) heavyweight champion — the Croatian does not expect either man to look his way for a unification bout, believing both are past their primes.
"I don't think [the Joshua-Fury winner wants to fight me]," Hrgovic said.
"I would be happy that I'm wrong, but I don't think so."
Hrgovic (21-1, 16 KOs) didn't have much positive to say about his rival champions in the division either. The IBF king referred to the other three titleholders — Daniel Dubois (WBO), Agit Kabayel (WBC) and Murat Gassiev (WBA) — as "fake champions."
"I feel they're all fake champions right now. Dubois is a fake champion because he beat fake champion, Fabio Wardley," Hrgovic explained. "Fabio Wardley shouldn't have won against [Joseph] Parker. He was losing the fight, and I think it was a big robbery. When you beat a fake champion, you're a fake champion as well.
"Agit Kabayel received his belt without fighting. I also think he's a fake champion. And this Murat Gassiev is also a fake champion. He beat nobody and received his belt without fighting."
Dubois rose off the floor to stop Wardley in Round 11 of a Fight of the Year contender in May to win the WBO heavyweight belt. The pair fought their anticipated rematch this past Saturday in London — but this time there wasn't much drama.
Dubois made easy work of Wardley, knocking him down within 17 seconds, hurting him numerous times, and ultimately finishing him in Round 2.
Many believe Wardley's punch resistance is gone at the top level because of the cumulative punishment he absorbed during his career, and thus he should call it a day.
Similar observations were made about Joe Joyce after back-to-back defeats at the hands of Zhilei Zhang — and he has looked a shell of himself ever since, losing three of his four fights.
"Look, he made a bunch of money," Hrgovic said of Wardley. "He made a miracle by becoming a world champion without an amateur career. He made a bunch of money, and he had a lot of wars — every fight of his is a war. I think he should retire.
"He doesn't have that skill level. He relies on his heart, chin and durability. Because he doesn't have that skill level, every fight [of his] is going to be a war. So I don't know why he would do that anymore. I think he should retire."