Teddy Atlas, the former trainer turned pundit, is confident that Anthony Joshua will take Filip Hrgovic apart should they fight. The strong chance of the fight happening comes off the back of their wins on the Day of Reckoning card in Saudi Arabia. It could potentially be for the IBF world title, which is expected to be made vacant soon after Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk battle it out for all four belts in February 2024.
Hrgovic has been the mandatory for some time for the IBF title and solidified his position with an easy first-round blowout of Mark de Mori on December 23. Later on the same night, Joshua topped the bill and battered Otto Wallin into submission on his stool before the start of the sixth round. The third victory in 12 months sets up a big year for Joshua in 2024 as he gets back to the top following back-to-back defeats to Oleksandr Usyk in 2021 and 2022.
Atlas predicted Wallin might cause an upset against Joshua and, after getting that wrong, he has now made another big prediction should he fight Hrgovic. Speaking on The Fight podcast, he tipped AJ to be victorious and believed the fight was likely to happen because of the money involved.
“Hrgovic is the number one contender, he’s undefeated. I thought he lost to the Chinese fighter [Zhilei Zhang]. I don’t think that much of Hrgovic, I think Joshua takes him apart,” Atlas said. “Hrgovic was supposed to be promised the winner of Fury and Usyk but it would be easier to get him to fight Joshua because you can’t make more money than you can against Joshua.”
Anthony Joshua has always stated his intention to become a three-time world champion and this fight might represent his best opportunity. The potential fight between Joshua and Hrgovic is set to be a highly anticipated bout and Teddy Atlas’ prediction of Joshua taking Hrgovic apart will no doubt only add to the excitement.
Atlas believes the fight is likely to happen due to the money involved, and the potential for Joshua to become a three-time world champion is an opportunity that he won’t want to miss. Whether or not Atlas’ prediction will come true remains to be seen, but it will definitely be a fight to watch out for.
