Filip Hrgovic’s fight of the night performance in defeating heavyweight David Adeleye last Saturday night in Riyadh had a downside, with him suffering a cut along the way in winning a 10-round unanimous decision. Hrgovic won by the scores 99-90, 99-90, and 98-91.
Filip’s History of Eye Injuries
The 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Hrgovic (19-1, 14 KOs) was cut over his right eye in the second round from a jab by Adeleye (14-2, 13 KOs). Although Filip’s trainer, Abel Sanchez, did an admirable job of controlling the bleeding, it was troubling to see the injury happen so early. It was the third straight fight that Hrgovic had been cut over one of his eyes.
Besides the cut, the 6’6″ Hrgovic, 33, was rocked by Adeleye in the eighth round after the British fighter unloaded on him with a 10-punch flurry after he’d knocked him down.
Hrgovic vs. Adeleye punch stats
- Filip Hrgovic: 228 of 510 shots for 44.7%
- David Adeleye: 92 of 244 for 37.7%
Hrgovic weathered the storm to escape the crazy round. For the remaining two rounds, he fought smart, leaning away from Adeleye’s wildly thrown punches to grind out the victory. The eighth round alone made the contest the fight of the night in the eyes of many fans.
“It was a good win. Adeleye is a good fighter,” said Chris Mannix on his Podcast with Sergio Mora, discussing Filip Hrgovic’s victory over David Adeleye last Saturday night in Riyadh.
“Hrgovic is the kind of guy that has to fight in Saudi Arabia, where he’s fought four out of his last six fights, or go on the road. He doesn’t have a fanbase anywhere else. He has to hope that Turki Alalshikh continues to like him as a fighter to put him on some of these fights,” said Mannix.
Hrgovic has proven to be one of Turki’s most entertaining heavyweights in the four fights he’s competed in on his Riyadh Season cards:
- David Adeleye
- Daniel Dubois
- Mark De Mori
- Zhilei Zhang
A Test for Moses Itauma?
Turki didn’t mention what plans he has for Hrgovic’s next fight, but he would be a good option for Moses Itauma to use as a test for the 20-year-old to see how he handles a fighter who punches back.
“You’ve got to put him in with another one of those B-level guys before we start talking about him on a high level. He continues to get cut easily,” said Mannix about Hrgovic. “In his loss to Dubois, he had cuts over both eyes. In his win over Joe Joyce, he had a cut over his left eye. In his win over Adeleye, he had a cut over his right eye. When you see a guy cut in his last three fights, that would worry me,” said Mannix.
Last Updated on 08/19/2025
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