A dominant display from Croatian heavyweight prospect Filip Hrgovic saw him score a unanimous points win over late replacement Kevin Johnson on Saturday night in Zagreb to defend his WBC regional title.

The eight round bout saw all three judges issue an identical score of 80-71.

Hrgovi?, who is highly regarded as an rising talent in the weight class, is now 7-0 with 5 KOs in his professional career after having few issues in beating Johnson in front of a packed house at KC Dražen Petrovi?.

Johnson, from New Jersey, who was a late replacement for Ytalo Perea who failed to get the necessary documents to travel to Croatia for the fight, challenged Vitali Klitschko for the WBC World title and has since gone on to share the ring with a number of top heavyweights including Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.

Johnson is very difficult to stop, after going the ten round distance this past October with another unbeaten heavyweight prospect, Daniel DuBois. 

Hrgovi? was dominant from the opening round, landing a series of punches in each round, but to Johnson’s credit he managed to go the distance despite being belted with countless blows.

After the fight Hrgovi? thanked the fans who turned out in Zagreb.

“Thanks for supporting me. I am really touched, proud and honoured. Thank you from my heart. Thanks also to the my opponent, he is a real warrior. I respect your career, please a round of applause for Kevin Johnson,” Hrgovi? said.