Hrgovic, who faces Allen this weekend at Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, suddenly looked far more engaged after hearing about the chants and predictions coming from Allen’s side ahead of the fight.
Asked what fans should expect, Hrgovic predicted a knockout.
“A big knockout,” said Hrgovic to DAZN.
The Croatian heavyweight then reacted to a song circulating around Allen’s camp predicting a stoppage victory over him. Hrgovic either misunderstood the lyrics or simply refused to take them seriously.
“Just see how he looks like, how he dresses up. He says, ‘Hrgovic in seven rounds.’ It means I win in seven rounds, right? Yeah, that’s how I see it.”
Once the part about Allen wanting to “kick his head in” was relayed to him, the smirk disappeared.
“That’s why I’m getting extra strong. I’m destroying this guy on Saturday,” said Hrgovic. “I’m ruining your party, man.”
Allen enters the fight as the underdog but has spent the week embracing the role of hometown spoiler. He has repeatedly pointed to Hrgovic’s knockout loss to Daniel Dubois as proof that the Croatian can be broken down under pressure.
The crowd inside the public workout clearly sided with Allen throughout the exchange, adding to the hostile atmosphere once Hrgovic began responding. What had started as a relaxed media appearance quickly turned into one of the more tense moments of fight week.
Hrgovic has mostly treated the fight like a mismatch. Wednesday’s exchange finally dragged some emotion out of him.
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