October 3, 2020 – Croatian boxer Filip Hrgovic will fight Rydell Booker, a 39-year-old American and former sparring partner trying to revive his career after his release from prison, on November 7 in Florida.
Index.hr reports that Hrgovic’s promoters responded to messages from critics questioning whether the program they had designed for the Croatian champion made sense. After the match against Kartozia, a boxer who is not even among the 600 best in the world, Hrgovic answered that it is up to his promoters to organize the fights, and it is up to him to be ready for any fight.
And while Kartozia received a boxing ban of a few months, Hrgovic enters the ring again a little over a month after the knockout in Denmark. He has already left for America, where he will prepare for the fight against Booker.
The American has had 29 fights and won 26 times in his professional career. He lost three times, in 2004 to James Toney, in April 2019 to Jermaine Franklin, and recently against Bulgarian boxer Pulev.
Booker, who will turn 40 in February, was one of America’s most promising heavyweights at the turn of the century. Born in Detroit, Booker had 22 straight wins by mid-2004, winning an IBA title match against James Toney, who had earlier demolished Evander Holyfield. The winner would get a chance to box for the world title.
However, in parallel with his boxing career, Booker also built a criminal one. Five months before the fight with Toney, he was arrested along with three other men for possessing more than a pound of cocaine and was awaiting trial.
“I had to accept that fight even though I wasn’t ready for it. I needed money for expensive court costs, and I had no choice,” said Booker years later, who lost to Toney by a unanimous decision of the judges after 12 rounds.
Hrgovic believes that he will bring down Booker without any problems.
“I can’t wait to fight in America. Booker is a skilled fighter; he had a good fight against Pulev. He kept his distance and won the first couple of rounds; he endured 12 rounds. I can do much better. I will finish this fight earlier. Booker was one of my sparring partners before the fight with Corbin. I know him well, and he knows me well. He scanned me. I am looking forward to the fight. He has good technique and skill, but I am more prepared, and in better shape, and I think he will not be able to bear my strength and pressure,” Filip Hrgovic said.
His promoters from Team Sauerland predict that by the end of 2021, Hrgovic will be fighting for the world heavyweight title.
“Filip can hurt any heavyweight at the moment. He has dynamite in both hands, he showed that in the last fight, and he will show it against Booker. Filip must stay in rhythm and fight because a challenging year awaits us. He is ready to fight for the title of champion,” said Nisse Sauerland, Hrgovic’s promoter, announcing the new fight.
He recently said he would not give up on a deal to fight British boxer, Daniel Dubois.
Sauerland confirmed that the fight is still in the plan, and by the end of 2020, he could be in the ring for the third time.
“After Booker, we hope to fight one more time by the end of the year. We’re trying to keep Filip busy and going in the right direction,” Sauerland explained.
There have been rumors for some time about the clash between Hrgovic and Dubois, a duel between two upcoming fighters who should be at the top of international boxing for a long time.
“We are definitely considering a fight with Dubois, he is constantly progressing; he is completely different than a few years ago. We will see him as he really is in the next fight against Joe Joyce, in my opinion, it is completely open. But the fight between Dubois and Hrgovic will happen soon, in a year, no matter how Dubois fares against Joyce,” Sauerland said, adding that this is the perfect time for Hrgovic to fight for the top of world boxing because the heavyweight division has never been more exciting, after a boring era dominated by the Klitschko brothers.
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