Undefeated Croatian heavyweight contender Filip ‘El Animal’ Hrgovic 14-0 (12) is ready to face Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz 33-2 (28) following the 42-year-old Cuban southoaw’s sixth-round knockout victory over ‘Prince’ Charles Martin 28-3-1 (25) in Florida on Saturday night.
Two-time world title challenger Ortiz recovered from two knockdowns to finish the fight before the halfway point.
On Monday the IBF ordered Ortiz and Hrgovic to begin negotiations for the fight. Ortiz was ranked number 10 by the IBF before defeating number two Martin. Hrgovic is the number three contender while the top spot remains vacant.
The 29-year-old Hrgovic was expected to face fellow contender Michael ‘The Bounty’ Hunter 20-1-2 (14) in a title eliminator last year but the American withdrew from the fight.
“I hope 2022 will be better. It was not such a great year because we had so much delay in the negotiations,” Hrgovic said to Wasserman Boxing.
“I should have fought in March or April, and I finished fighting for the first time in September.
“It was a lot of things that happened, starting with Michael Hunter, who pulled out of the fight. Then we were looking for a new opponent for months and months.
“All the time, I was in training camp. It was exhausting, but yeah, the year finished pretty good. I had two fights in a few months, and it was not huge wins, but it was good decent wins, and I stayed undefeated.
“Like I said, I’m looking forward to a better 2022. You could see that [Hunter] was avoiding me. He didn’t want to fight with me, and now you see the reason.
“If he fought with me, I would knock him out. It was not some smart business move on why he pulled out of the fight.
“It’s just that he’s not on my level. He knows that. I don’t know what will happen, but I’m ready for anyone. But I think no one with my team will go into negotiations with Michael Hunter.”
Hrgovic isn’t hopeful that the Ortiz bout can be made, but he is confident of victory if it happens.
“I think it’s hard that fight to happen, but you never know. Yes, of course, I watched,” said Hrgovic.
“It was a good exciting fight, and it was also a good undercard. I watched all the fights, and it was a good event. I’m happy. I was waiting for the winner, and we have the winner now.
“I hope in the next few days that Ortiz will accept the offer from the IBF and I can start my preparation and we can have a fight in maybe March or April.
“Yeah, I’m definitely confident that I can beat Luis Ortiz. I respect him. He had a great career, he’s a good fighter, but now it’s time for retirement.
“I’m ready to send him into retirement, a well-deserved retirement and I’m really confident I can beat him in great fashion.”
