Daniel Dubois has posted on Instagram to challenge IBF heavyweight mandatory challenger Filip Hrgovic to a fight on the undercard of the Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou event on March 8th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. After his impressive knockout victory over Jarrell Miller in December, Dubois is now setting his sights on Hrgovic, the 2016 Olympic bronze medalist. However, Hrgovic may choose to avoid the risky fight against Dubois, as he is on the verge of challenging for a world title against the winner of the Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk clash on May 18th. Nevertheless, if His Excellency Turki Alalshikh provides the right incentives, Hrgovic may be persuaded to accept the fight.
Dubois directly called out Hrgovic on Instagram, asserting his readiness and challenging him to face off on the same card as Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia. Given Dubois’ dominant performance against Miller, many believe he would be too much for Hrgovic and would likely knock him out. However, it should be noted that Hrgovic possesses formidable punching power, and although he appeared vulnerable in recent fights against Demsey McKean and Zhilei Zhang, he managed to secure victories through controversial means.
Dubois himself experienced controversy in his fight against Usyk last summer, where he suffered a disputed loss due to a referee ruling a body shot as a low blow. Replay footage revealed that the punch was, in fact, on the beltline and not below it.