A little context; this was filmed in September 2013, in a David Haye training camp, during the time he was due to fight Tyson Fury. So let's paint the scene a little better:
Wilder was 27 years old, 29-0 (29 KO), his best wins being Audley Harrison and Siarhei Liakhovich. Wilder was little known outside of hardcore Boxing circles. He was a sparring partner for Haye, giving him the chance to see how a multi-time World champion trains. Valuable experience for Deontay. I noticed in the comments on the vid people saying Wilder was taking it easy etc, but he most certainly wasn't. He had just as much to prove as anyone at this point in time.
Hrgovic was 21 years old, still an Amateur, but doing well in the AIBA World Series of Boxing (basically semi-pro type matches). Hrgovic was very raw but already showing talent at such a young age. He had won the World Youth Championships in 2010, beating Tony Yoka to win Gold. It has always been said that Hrgovic's style would be better suited to the Pros. He gave Haye a pretty gnarly cut in the last round of sparring during the camp, which led to the Fury fight being postponed (Article).
So how do you feel about this sparring session?
Any articles or accounts online of the spar say that Wilder did go all out and tried to take Hrgovic's head off, but Filip remained composed and maintained pressure throughout, having his own success once Wilder calmed down. They were both giving it a proper effort, and to me I'd say Hrgovic got the better of it from the video. A little embarrassing for Deontay, his flaws are clearly there even against a pretty green Amateur who'd been boxing less than 3 years...
Wilder has gone backwards as a fighter, he was around his peak at this point.
I couldn't figure out why Wilder fans and also many US media figures were saying he had "improved" since the first Fury fight and picking him to win the rematch on that basis.
I think they were blinded by the one punch KOs of Breazeale and Ortiz. KOing Breazeale didn't prove anything except that Wilder could hit hard with the right hand, which we already knew, and I thought he looked awful against Ortiz, losing every round against a slow, over-the-hill plodder, till he finally uncorked the right hand that King Kong had been practically begging to be hit with since the first bell.
Thanks for the clip, very interesting. I haven't been impressed by Hrgovic yet and he almost looked more fluid in this short clip than he has so far. I'd like to see Hrgovic fight someone like Chisora, Bakole or even Joseph Parker. These fights should be fairly easy to make and would give us a sense of where he is.
This was when Wilder had a bit of boxing game, he knows inside fighting like he showed in the Dahaupas fight, and long range boxing acumen in the Stiverne fight, but after the Spzilka fight, he fell into the trap of loving only his power and abandoned all that he learned, the inside fighting and the long range boxing that he showed in the Dahaupas and Stiverne fight were never seen again.
Agreed, his variety of punches were different here. Downhill since due to his power, have seen that with a lot of powerpunchers.
Wilder is crap. There are loads of fighters who, with the hype and matchmaking Wilder had, would be exactly where he is. Joyce beat Hrgovic over 5 rounds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1z0L6meibM
Wilder looked a bit ragged here, as Hrgovic was countering him with a right hand, and cuffed him on the side of the head where Fury hit him. Can't stand Wilder for being a lying ducker.
Good work by both guys.
Both were connecting with some nice right hands.
Wilder with the jab straight right.
Hrgovic with the counter right over the lazy jab.
Thanks for the clip.
Fighters really do get damaged in sparring. Look at the numbers of shots they were both taking, especially Wilder!!! That is sure to do a lot of damage. I really hope boxers make the biggest money they can and get out of the sport ASAP.
Wilder s pro career he knocked people out so fast and didn't take any.
It's good he does take a few karma punches in return in sparring at least and takes a few bumps