Bellew Backs Hrgovic for a 'Nasty' Finish Against Usyk's Toughest Test

Filip Hrgovic became Croatia's first heavyweight world champion in August, upsetting unbeaten Moses Itauma with a ninth-round stoppage to grab the vacant IBF title. Now 34, the man they call 'El Animal' did it the hard way — he was being outboxed for most of the night by a 21-year-old whose speed and ring IQ had him well ahead before the tank ran dry.

Tony Bellew thinks that late-finishing instinct would travel if Hrgovic ever shares a ring with Rico Verhoeven, the former kickboxing champion who pushed Oleksandr Usyk to the brink in May before getting stopped in the 11th. Speaking to Fight Your Corner, the retired former world champion predicted Hrgovic would produce a far more emphatic ending than Usyk managed — a genuinely 'nasty' knockout, as Bellew put it.

It's a notable call given Hrgovic has never been known as a one-shot finisher. His win over Itauma leaned on attrition more than dynamite, capitalising on a fading opponent rather than blowing him away early. But Bellew's read is simple: against a crossover novice like Verhoeven, Hrgovic's experience and timing turn a competitive fight into a cruel one.

The Queue Comes First

Before any of that, there's business to settle. Hrgovic's next assignment is likely Frank Sanchez, the mandatory who took step-aside money so the Itauma bout could be for a world title. Sanchez brings a 26-1 (19 KO) record and is coming off a brutal second-round knockout of Richard Torrez — the kind of form that makes a mandatory defence anything but a formality.

The Verhoeven idea, meanwhile, sits on Turki Alalshikh's wishlist rather than any contract. Hrgovic has said he'd entertain the payday a crossover spectacle would bring, but he's made clear a unification is the priority right now. That's the fight that actually moves the needle at the top of the division.

The Real Prize

A unification path likely runs through Daniel Dubois, the WBO champion at 23-3 (22 KO) who has to get past Fabio Wardley in their October 17 rematch first. Dubois won the first meeting by 11th-round TKO against a Wardley who sits at 20-1-1 (19 KO), so a repeat is far from guaranteed. Hrgovic clearly wants those straps more than a novelty bout — and if he gets them, a Verhoeven showcase becomes the kind of lucrative sideshow Alalshikh specialises in.