Having shared the ring with both Daniel Dubois and Moses Itauma, IBF champion Filip Hrgovic has revealed that one of them, despite not hitting the hardest, is probably the best fighter he has ever faced.
The Croatian claimed his world heavyweight title in August, pulling off a sizable upset by stopping Itauma in nine rounds.
Despite suffering an early knockdown – and, for the most part, getting thoroughly outclassed – Hrgovic managed to outlast his less experienced opponent in spectacular fashion.
As for his 2024 encounter with Dubois, ‘El Animal’ was involved in a far more competitive contest and, by some estimations, had successfully built a slight lead.
That was until he got stopped in round eight, as after sustaining cuts over both eyes, it was ultimately deemed unsafe for Hrgovic to continue.
Dubois, meanwhile, went on to score a fifth-round finish over Anthony Joshua before losing his IBF title via the same result against Oleksandr Usyk.
Having since scored back-to-back stoppages over Fabio Wardley, though, the 29-year-old has become a two-time world champion and is now considered one of the sport’s leading heavyweights.
But despite crediting Dubois’ power, Hrgovic has told Ariel Helwani that Itauma’s superior speed and boxing IQ presented more of a problem for him.
“I think he’s very good. He’s maybe the best who I fought. The quickest guy, the best IQ, the best timing and speed.
“But he’s not the biggest puncher. I received harder punches from Dubois, from [David] Adeleye [and] from [Zhilei] Zhang.”
Filip Hrgovic calls Moses Itauma the best boxer he's ever faced, but says he isn't the biggest puncher:
“I think he's very good. He's maybe the best who I fought. The quickest guy, the best IQ, the best timing and speed.
But he's not the biggest puncher. I received harder… pic.twitter.com/mbMfRe6Y4G
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) October 21, 2026
Hrgovic controversially outpointed Zhang after surviving a first-round knockdown, while his 2025 encounter with Adeleye resulted in a far clearer unanimous decision victory.
