Filip Hrgovic (19-1, 14 KOs) says he was surprised by David Adeleye’s sudden burst of offense after he’d put him down on the canvas in the eighth round of their heavyweight fight last Saturday night at the ANB Arena in Riyadh. Hrgovic admits that he was hurt but not badly enough for Adeleye (14-2, 13 KOs) to finish him. He regrets not finishing him after he’d put him down with a big right.
Hrgovic on Adeleye’s Surprise Attack
“I dropped him, but I don’t know what the f*** happened. I should have finished him, and then he got me with some shots and then another two shots,” said Filip Hrgovic to iFL TV, talking about the eighth round of his battle against David Adeleye last Saturday night. “It was a mistake. I should have finished him.”
Adeleye was like a viper with the way he suddenly sprang on an unsuspecting Hrgovic after he got back up in the eighth. It caught Hrgovic off guard with the big right-hand punch Adeleye stunned him with, and then the flurry of shots that he followed with.
Hrgovic looked desperate, close to going down, but he stayed on his feet until the ceasefire when the round ended. The weird part of the fight was how Adeleye didn’t go on the attack in the ninth or tenth rounds. Hrgovic dominated those rounds in the same one-sided manner he’d done in the first seven rounds of the contest.
Why Adeleye Couldn’t Win
Adeleye looked exhausted from the energy he’d expended during his brief eighth-round assault. That’s a cardio problem. It was the same thing that held him back in his loss to Fabio Wardley.
“I’m happy I pulled it out at the end. I controlled all rounds, but he gave a good fight. He gave a good effort. I thought I was going to finish him earlier, but he gave a good fight,” said Hrgovic.
Hrgovic’s Confession: He Was Hurt
“A little bit. I wasn’t badly hurt, but I was a little bit hurt. I endured. He said he couldn’t knock me out. I was aware of what was going on, but I was a little bit hurt,” said Hrgovic about his condition in the 8th after he took a barrage of punches from Adeleye.
The big 6’6″ Hrgovic used his large frame to grab and hold Adeleye to escape the remainder of the eighth round. By then, Adeleye was so tired that he couldn’t wrestle free to continue to land at will on his hurt opponent.
