The short answer is yes, he is. Born in Zagreb, the capital city of Croatia, on June 4, 1992, Hrgovic won a bronze medal in the super heavyweight division at the Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August, 2016. He began his professional career just over a year later, at the age of 25, at Arena Riga in the Latvian capital, where he defeated Brazilian Raphael Zumbano by first-round technical knockout.
In the sixth fight of his professional career, Hrgovic fought American veteran Amir Mansour for the vacant World Boxing Council (WBC) International Heavyweight title at Arena Zagreb in his hometown in September, knocking out his opponent in round three. After two successful defences of his WBC title, he also won the vacant International Boxing Federation (IBF) International Heavyweight title, courtesy of a fifth-round technical kmockout of another American veteran, Rydell Booker, at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Hollywood in November, 2020; he has successfully defended that twice since.
Most recently, ‘El Animal’, as Hrgovic is known, outpointed Chinese southpaw Zhilei ‘Big Bang’ Zhang at the Jeddah Superdome, Jeddah on August 20, 2022 to become the mandatory challenger for the IBF World Heavyweight title held by Oleksandr Usyk. Despite being knocked down by a hard left hand in the dying seconds of the first round and, at various times, looking lackadaisical, Hrogovic came through by unanimous decision, 115-112, 115-112, 114-113.
The formidable Croatian, who stands 6′ 6″ tall, may have made more of a meal of beating Zhang than widely expected, but nonetheless defends an unbeaten 15-0-0 record, including 12 knockouts. Still only 30, Hrogovic is currently rated #18 in the world fully deserves a mandatory shot at Usyk, although the latter is pursuing a showdown with Tyson Fury for the undisputed heavyweight title.