LONDON, England — The last time David Adeleye boxed in Riyadh he not only lost for the first time but it also came via knockout to bitter rival Fabio Wardley.

He returns to the Saudi Arabian capital on Aug. 16 in his toughest fight since that night when he takes on Filip Hrgovic as part of the Esports World Cup event headlined by Moses Itauma and Dillian Whyte live on DAZN pay-per-view (£19.99 in the UK; $19.99 in the United States; $39.99 in Australia).

For many, a return to the ring in Riyadh would represent an opportunity to exorcise the demons from the hardest night of their career to date. But Adeleye (14-1, 13 KOs) does not see it that way.

“I ain’t got no demons,” he told The Ring, from his training base just outside London, on Tuesday. “None.

“There are worse things going on in the world. There ain’t no demons there for me. I just do what I do and what I do is fight.

“Yes I came up short last time, but I will not be coming up short this time.”

That night, Adeleye was stopped towards the end of the seventh round, bringing an end to months of bitter build-up which included a physical altercation on a red carpet in London. It also kicked off a 14-month layoff for Adeleye, who did not return to the ring until December the following year.

Since his comeback, the 28-year-old from Ladbroke Grove, London, has racked up a pair of stoppage wins against domestic opponents with Solomon Dacres (first) and Jeamie TKV (sixth) dispatched inside the distance.

“I feel like I’m back in the swing of things now, 100 percent,” Adeleye says. “And now I’m involved in the big, big fight.”

Given the controversial nature of his win over TKV, when the referee appeared to not only move one of his opponent's hands but also allowed Adeleye to land a heavy left hook on the break, it appeared as though a rematch was certain.

The British Boxing Board of Control had ordered one and even Adeleye was expecting an immediate return. “As far as I knew,” he says. “It was happening on August 23.

“The fight was signed, sealed and delivered on my end, but you know what happens in boxing. At the last minute, things pop up.”

That thing, for Adeleye, was 6ft 6in Croatian Filip Hrgovic. Like Adeleye, El Animal has lost only once and is desperate to prove he deserves a place at the heavyweight top table after falling somewhat out of contention over the past couple of years.

He was once hailed as a future ruler of the division, but his reputation was damaged by a below-par showing against Zhilei Zhang in 2022, although he claimed a unanimous decision before he lost his undefeated record to Daniel Dubois in June last year.

“Look he’s a good fighter,” Adeleye says, when asked to assess the 33-year-old.

“I always knew he was a good fighter and I’ve known about him since he was in the amateurs. But if you want to get to the top, there are certain obstacles you’re going to have to come through and this is one of them for me. I want to come through with flying colours.

“Listen, he’s just another man with two arms and two legs. He isn’t God, he isn’t nothing. A guy with arms and two feet, a normal human being.”

Even so, Hrgovic is The Ring’s No. 6-rated heavyweight, while he is highly ranked across the four major sanctioning bodies, with the WBO placing him as high up as second.

“When I’ve got that stress factor in front of me, that serious fight, I train a bit harder and I take it a bit more serious,” Adeleye adds. “I have to be on my A-game.”

Many fighters in the past have suggested that having a certain degree of "fear" has helped bring the best out of them before. But for Adeleye, there is a world of difference between his so-called "stress factor" and fear.

“There is no fear there whatsoever,” he says firmly. “There is no fear for anybody on this Earth. None whatsoever. Let me say that clearly, there’s no fear. He’s a good fighter and I know what he can do but there’s no fear.

“What I know is that beating him brings me right up in the division. It gets me right in contention and puts my name among all the people at the top of the tree. That’s where I belong and this is my chance to prove it.”