Well, that didn’t take long.
Less than a day after revealing that the IBF had sent out letters ordering a heavyweight final eliminator between Luis Ortiz and Filip Hrgovic, the Sauerlands report that “King Kong” has turned down the opportunity. IBF #3 Joseph Parker now gets the call and “has until Friday” to decide whether to take it.
You may recall Hrgovic (14-0, 12 KO) getting screwed out of an eliminator last year when Michael Hunter waited until the last minute to ditch the fight in favor of pissing his career away on Triller. If Parker (30-2, 21 KO) and the rest of the top 10 turn him down again, there’s no reason not to just name “El Animal” the mandatory challenger. Dude’s been getting jerked around for almost a full year now.
As far as Ortiz, he’s been linked to a potential Andy Ruzi Jr. fight for what feels like forever. A win over “The Destroyer” would be quite a bit of fiscally rewarding than a Hrgovic fight and, considering their relative positions in the various top 15s, could be just as effective at getting Ortiz a title shot.