Demsey McKean vs Filip Hrgovic Preview August 12th, 2023
Two unbeaten heavyweight hopefuls will be battling it out in London, England this Saturday, August 12th as Filip Hrgovic of Croatia clashes with Australia’s Demsey McKean. The 12-rounder from the O2 Arena can be seen live in most nations on DAZN. Hrgovic last fought a year ago when he beat Zhilei Zhang by a controversial 12-round unanimous decision while McKean last saw action in October when he stopped Patrick Korte in the third round for the vacant IBF Inter-Continental Heavyweight Title.
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McKean vs Hrgovic Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Demsey McKean +500
- Filip Hrgovic -800
My Pick
The 31-year-old Hrgovic enters the ring with a perfect mark of 15-0 with 12 Ko’s and has gone 61 rounds since making his pro debut in 2015. He’s one of the new bigger breed of heavyweights as he stands 6-feet-6-inches with a reported 82-inch reach. He’s got impressive power in his fists as well with a current knockout ratio of 80 per cent but until meeting Zhang, hadn’t taken on a legitimate contender as his previous wins were been against the likes of Marko Radonjic, Rydell Booker, Pavel Sour, Tom Little, Sean Turner, Amir Mansour, Kevin Johnson, Gregory Corbin and Eric Molina.
The only three opponents to go the distance with him so far have been Johnson over eight rounds in 2018, Turner over eight rounds in the same year and Zhang over 12 rounds last August. All 12 of Hrgovic’s knockouts have come within the first five rounds. He stopped Mansour in the third round in 2018 to take the vacant WBC International Heavyweight Title and defended it three times. He then won the IBF International belt against Booker in 2020 and has defended it twice.
Hrgovic enjoyed a fine amateur career and won a bronze medal as a super heavyweight at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He also reached the quarterfinals at the 2011, 2013 and 2015 World Amateur Championships and won the 2010 Youth World Championships as well as the 2015 European Championships. In addition, Hrgovic went 25-4 with 10 Ko’s in the World Series of Boxing from 2010 to 2015.
As far as McKean is concerned, he’s a former former Muay Thai and mixed martial arts fighter who resides in England and has built up a perfect mark of 22-0 with 14 Ko’s. The 32-year-old southpaw made his pro debut in 2014 and has boxed 108 rounds since. Like Hrgovic, he measured 6-feet-6-inches tall but unfortunately has an unlisted reach. McKean also possesses good power in his arsenal as his current knockout ratio comes in at 63.6 per cent and he’s stopped 11 of his last 13 opponents.
McKean’s level of competition hasn’t been the stiffest either. He won the vacant Australian Queensland Heavyweight Title in 2015 when he stopped Anthony Fowler in the third round. He added the Australian Belt in 2017 with a sixth-round stoppage of Will Nasio, won the vacant African Heavyweight Belt by stopping Patrick Eneanya in the sixth round and then added the vacant Asia Pacific and IBF Inter-Continental Heavyweight Titles in 2020 when he halted Jonathan Rice in the 10th round. He’s also beaten Hunter Sam twice as well as Marcelo Nascimento and Don Haynesworth.
Prediction…
McKean has been used as a sparring partner by Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte and definitely can’t be taken lightly by Hrgovic, who’s the mandatory IBF challenger. Both guys are basically bangers who aren’t really interested in what the judges have to say as they prefer to end things before going to the scorecards. Hrgovic has been more successful in that area but he tired against Zhang and was lucky to get the decision. Hrgovic needs to be at his best to beat McKean as an upset is possible. If he’s the aggressor he should come out of it with a win but if he sits back this fight’s a tossup as McKean has the tools to surprise him.
Hrgovic needs to take the fight to McKean to earn a win.
Play: Hrgovic -800 @ BetOnline.ag
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Demsey McKean betting • Filip Hrgovic betting