Hrgovic on Notice: Adeleye plans to deliver a powerful two-handed attack to make the heavyweight contender feel his presence early

David Adeleye says he’s going to make heavyweight contender Filip Hrgovic feel his power early with both hands on Saturday night in their 10-round fight in Riyadh. Adeleye (14-1, 13 Kos) says he has more than a left hook in his arsenal, and he plans on showing Hrgovic (18-1, 14 KOs) that he has the tools to knock him out.

Hrgovic, 33, must fight a lot better than he showed in his last two fights for him to defeat the 28-year-old Adeleye because he’s younger and has a lot of power.

“I’m assuming he’s going to be very tough,” said David Adeleye to BoxNation about his fight against Filip Hrgovic. “Yeah, I hit harder than Dubois. Zhang [hits] a bit heavier. He’s 30 to 40 kilos heavier than me.”

What Adeleye lacks is the cardio to defeat fighters like Hrgovic or even lower-level ranked heavyweights. He’s a six-round fighter and fights in brief spurts after the midpoint of his contests.

“I’ve got more in my arsenal than a left hook. If he’s going in there thinking, ‘I’ve got to hold my right hand up’ to avoid my left hook, he’s in trouble,” said Adeleye about Hrgovic.

Adeleye has an excellent right hand as well. He’s sneaky with punching coming out of a break. He sometimes explodes on his opponents with a fast combination. However, Hrgovic is dangerous in close with his rabbit punching, and he’s going to take advantage of every opportunity to brain Adeleye if he chooses to hold as often to take rest breaks.

“Sometimes his arrogance can come back and bite him on his a**,” said Adeleye about his thoughts on Hrgovic’s loss to Daniel Dubois in 2024. “He thought he was going to blow Daniel out of there. He gassed out after three or four rounds.”

The combination of the cut and the fast pace is what led to Filip’s loss to Dubois. It wasn’t just about stamina. Hrgovic got cut above his left eye in round two and was dealing with a lot of blood.

You can’t blame Hrgovic for assuming he’d beat Dubois, as he had the better amateur career and Daniel had already lost twice by the time he’d fought him. The shots that Hrgovic hit Dubois with were harder than the ones he took in his stoppage defeats against Oleksandr Usyk and Joe Joyce.

“I’m just thinking about letting my shots go, letting him feel what he’s in there with,” said Adeleye about Filip. “He’s tough and durable. He’s been in there with ‘Big Bang’ Zhang and Dubois, and the fights have still gone on late.”

If Adeleye is banking on scoring a knockout of Hrgovic, he needs to do it early. His stamina is so awful that he’ll be useless by the sixth round. David doesn’t possess the cardio to fight hard for more than six rounds, and Hrgovic hits harder than his former conqueror Wardley.