Two months ago in Samokov, Bulgaria, Croatia’s World Series of Boxing star Filip Hrgovic defeated Romania’s APB Champion Mihai Nistor in the most memorable bout of the super heavyweight competition.

The two star boxers have now qualified for the Doha 2015 AIBA World Boxing Championships, bringing the mouth-watering prospect of a swift rematch in Qatar.

Filip Hrgovic, Croatia (+91 kg)

Croatia’s Filip Hrgovic made his mark at Season V of the World Series of Boxing to qualifiy for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

“I have been through intensive preparations with only a few moments to rest. As a newly crowned European Champion I can’t be too modest, I definitely expect to win a medal in Qatar and I hope it will be the gold. Boxing is a way of life which I chose 10 years ago. It’s a beautiful, difficult sport, but my advice to people is to please get to know boxing – I can guarantee you will stay in or around the ring forever.”

“Prior to a major competition like the AIBA World Boxing Championships I spend around 25 hours a week training, and my coach Leonard Pijetraj has introduced some new elements for me during the preparations. I think boxing is progressing and I hope it will soon have a renaissance – AIBA has done many great things over the last few years, such as improving AOB rules and introducing WSB and APB.”

“I have been sparring with boxers from Croatia and athletes from neighbouring countries and I am now satisfied, motivated, self-confident and tired. I like to have sparring sessions with strong boxers for as many rounds as possible. This is the best way to adapt to real match conditions and get myself into ‘competition mode’. I certainly won’t be underestimating any of my opponents in Doha, although I would be happy to fight Romania’s strong Mihai Nistor once again, or Kazakhstan’s Ivan Dychko or Great Britain’s Joseph Joyce,” said Croatia’s Filip Hrgovic ahead of the AIBA World Boxing Championships.

Mihai Nistor, Romania (+91 kg)

Aggressive Romanian boxer Mihai Nistor joined the national team in 2010 and has been improving every year since. Nistor has already qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games following his excellent performance in the AIBA Pro Boxing Cycle I, where he also won the championship match.

“If you had asked me before the APB Championships Match with Germany’s Erik Pfeife, I would have said I am going to Doha to win the gold medal. Unfortunately, after the bout with Pfeifer, right now I still have injuries in both of my eyes. Hopefully the injuries will heal a little before the start of the Doha 2015 AIBA World Boxing Championships.”

“My average training week in preparation for Doha was about 25 hours. There has been little time since the bout with Pfeifer, but I have assessed the list of boxers that have qualified for the Doha 2015 AIBA World Boxing Championships and tried to be prepared for each of them.

In Romania, I trained hard with Lucian Atanasoaie, a 22-year-old boxer who is 207cm tall, and Mirel Jitaru who is a strong boxer and competed in the WSB. I also had Italian sparring partners who are former gold medalists – Clemente Russo and Roberto Cammarelle.

The key to success is working, working and working again, with the knowledge and the experience of my coach Relu Auras. My biggest rivals in Doha will be my own injuries, but I am looking forward to meeting Croatia’s Filip Hrgovic again,” said Romania’s Mihai Nistor who has his sights set on glory in Doha.

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