Eddie Hearn isn’t convinced that a fight between his protégé Filip Hrgovic and Jared Anderson, the up-and-coming contender promoted by rival Top Rank, is a realistic matchup given that both fighters are at this point in their respective careers.
Croatia’s Hrgovic likely moved himself into a mandatory title position recently by winning an IBF heavyweight eliminator against Zhilei Zhang last month on the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk’s heavyweight rematch against Anthony Joshua in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The IBF belt is held by the Ukrainian Usyk, who also holds the WBA and WBO versions.
Anderson, an up-and-coming boxer from the United States, the highly respected 23-year-old prospect from Toledo, Ohio, subsequently called the 30-year-old Hrgovic, saying “I would really love that fight.” Anderson said he was eager to fight anyone in the top 10 sanctioning bodies to improve his position; Anderson is not currently ranked in the top 15 by the WBA, WBC, WBO or IBF.
In a recent interview on The DAZN Show with hosts Ak and Barak, Hearn said he was not optimistic a fight between Hrgovic (15-0, 12 KO) and Anderson (12-0, 12 KO) would materialize, in part because of their different career paths, but also because he believes Top Rank boss Bob Arum has no interest in making that fight any time soon.
“Listen, Barak, you know the game,” Hearn said. “Do you think Bob Arum is going to put Jared Anderson with Filip Hrgovic now? As serious? He can say he will, but he won’t because it would be mismanagement.
“The guy is a good young prospect. I know Filip Hrgovic’s performance (against Anderson) was not great, but he is an outstanding heavyweight who is a world-class heavyweight. They just wouldn’t do that fight. Jared Anderson is going to move up the rankings and fight everyone.”
Hearn expects Hrgovic to fight one more time before he gets the call from the IBF for his title shot. Hearn said he is open to the idea of Hrgovic fighting Anderson, but insisted that Top Rank would have to express interest in making that fight.
“If he (Anderson) wants to fight Filip Hrgovic, they (Top Rank) are welcome to communicate,” Hearn said. “Like I said, he (Hrgovic) will have one more fight before he’s called mandatory, probably. So he’ll stay active.”
“Jared Anderson is a good prospect,” Hearn added. “He’s yet to fight someone who has a pulse, but if he wants to fight those kinds of guys, he’s a great talent and I’m sure he’ll be in the mix as well.”
