David Adeleye is determined to employ the lessons he learned during a frustrating 2025 and make a serious impact on the heavyweight division.

Adeleye (14-2, 13 KOs) ended 2024 with a spectacular first-round knockout of the previously undefeated Solomon Dacres but struggled to build on that momentum.

In April he looked out of sorts and quickly ran out of ideas during his vacant British title fight with Jeamie TKV. After five stale rounds, Adeleye dropped TKV with a left hook that landed moments after the referee called for the two to break. He escaped punishment and made the most of the opening by stopping his fellow Londoner moments later.

As controversial as the win was, it earned him an August fight with Filip Hrgovic.

Adeleye wasn’t outclassed by the experienced Croatian but there was the feeling that he could have done much more with his big opportunity and drifted to a wide 10-round decision loss.

"2025 wasn't the best year but 2026 is a year where I have to rectify that. Make people forget about 2025 and come with a different sort of force," he told talkSPORT Boxing.

"The fight with Jeamie was a stinker and then you got the one with Hrgovic where it didn't go my way.

“I look at the positives, negatives and everything but, at the same time, I'm a man that knows what's real so people don't need to tell me certain things because I already know what it is when I go home. I’ve got good people around me that just tell me what it is."

Adeleye is a confident character but seemed to spend much of his fight with Hrgovic second guessing himself.

When he did trust his instincts and take the initiative, Adeleye did trouble and hurt Hrgovic but he kept his hands in his pockets for far too long and allowed rounds to slip away.

The fight didn't end Adeleye's dreams of competing among world-class opposition but it did show that whilst he may have all the physical gifts required of a top heavyweight, still has to figure out the best way to utilise them.

Adeleye may be 29 years old but if he can learn from the ten rounds shared with Hrgovic, he still has plenty of time to make an impact at the highest level.

"I watched the fight back and could have done so many different things," he said.

"I could have done so much more. That wasn't a fight that was out my depth. I could have won that fight clearly and would have been in a different position now sitting here with.

"It's something that I have to take and it’s a bitter pill that I have to swallow. In 2026 I have to come differently."