Daniel Dubois’ win in June 2024 led to the British heavyweight’s career-changing Wembley win.
Before Dubois knocked out Anthony Joshua in five rounds, ‘Dynamite’ was on a run of great heavyweight wins after his first loss to Oleksandr Usyk.
Since his loss to Usyk in the rematch, however, he has garnered criticism for supposedly giving up in their second bout, with a fellow heavyweight in Dillian Whyte defending Daniel from ‘quit’ claims from fans recently.
But before the most recent loss, ‘DDD’ was high on confidence with two of his best career stoppages against Joshua and Jarell Miller.
Filip Hrgovic reveals he felt ’embarrassed’ after his stoppage loss to Daniel Dubois last year
The fight that opened the door to the fight against AJ came against then-unbeaten Filip Hrgovic for the IBF interim heavyweight title.
Hrgovic was stopped in the eighth round by doctors after suffering a nasty cut over his eye, rendering him unable to continue.
Since his bout against the Brit, he has rarely spoken out about his feelings post-fight.
In an interview with IFL TV, he revealed: “Yeah, of course, I feel sorry for that, I wasn’t performing well.
“Really bad performance from me because I said a lot of times before I was injured, I was sick, and I underestimated him.”
After losing his ‘gate to heaven’ opportunity to fight the former unified champion, he explained his struggle with handling the defeat against the 27-year-old.
“Yeah, it was a really hard time for me, my first loss, I feel like I embarrassed myself in front of all of the world. I got a chance and I f- – -ed up,” he said.
The top contender, who ranks above Tyson Fury in an interesting heavyweight stat, believes he is in the ‘mix’ for a big opportunity.
How a Filip Hrgovic vs Daniel Dubois rematch could materialise
As the Croatian prepares to face another English opponent in the form of David Adeleye on August 16th, there is potential for a rematch with his previous foe.
Since tasting defeat against the Ukrainian, Dubois has taken a drop in the rankings, but currently finds himself at #5 in the WBO.
‘El Animal’ places second in the rankings and will likely maintain his position if he defeats Adeleye.
If we see the undisputed champion vacate his title belts, Joseph Parker will be elevated and most likely face the next top-ranked contender in young Moses Itauma, leaving Filip to likely get his chance to right a wrong in his only career loss.