Filip Hrgovic shocked the world when he got the better of Moses Itauma and claimed the IBF heavyweight title last month, and promoter Frank Warren has provided an update on when ‘El Animal’ will have his first defence as champion.
Hrgovic entered his maiden world title contest as a major underdog, tasked with 21-year-old phenom Itauma, who was expected to become the second-youngest heavyweight world champion of all time.
Despite dominating the contest, scoring an early knockdown and being significantly up on the scorecards, Itauma eventually ran out of steam and began to falter, with Hrgovic capitalising in round nine and halting the Brit to secure a shock win that saw him become Croatia’s first-ever heavyweight world champion.
Speaking with iFL TV, Warren revealed that, at present, it looks as though Hrgovic will fulfil his mandatory obligation and face Cuba’s Frank Sanchez – who stepped aside to allow for Itauma-Hrgovic – in early 2027.
“He won’t fight this year but he will fight early next year. We will get him out. At the moment, he is due to fight Sanchez.
“That is what he signed up for, that is what the defence is and that is what we paid the guy [Sanchez] a lot of money to step aside for.
“If something else comes up then we will talk to Sanchez but that is where we are at and that is his contractual obligation.”
Hrgovic has been lobbying for a homecoming following his world title win, as he eyes up a first fight on Croatian soil since 2018.
Coincidently, the reconstruction of an 11,000-seater stadia in his hometown of Zagreb is set to complete in February and a heavyweight world title showdown could prove to be the perfect re-opening event for the Kranjčevićeva Stadium.
He has, however, show little interest in the Sanchez fight despite it being contracted, instead calling for unifications. The Cuban’s team have made it clear that he will not be accepting another stepaside deal, and fully intends on activating his position as mandatory.
