At 34, any old thoughts of partying were absent when asked exactly how he would celebrate the scarcely believable victory over Moses Itauma in London.

“I’m simple,” he told reporters as he sat topless in a catering room deep inside The 02.

“I want to just hold this belt…and sit on my chair.”

It is often thus when boxers achieve true greatness. I have spoken to dozens of fighters after they have won their first major title and they rarely know what to do with themselves in the hours and days that follow. There is a lot of sitting and a lot of chairs.

In those moments upon his favorite seat, as he stares in disbelief at the red and gold IBF belt currently in his stewardship, he will have plenty of time to reflect on exactly how he got there.

It is only a little over two years since he thought about walking away from the sport altogether. He had just been stopped on cuts by Daniel Dubois, his first professional defeat, and thought the only way was out.

“The whole world was laughing at me,” he remembers. “My whole country was laughing at me. I looked like s–t in that fight.

“I thought about retirement. I had made a lot of money already and was devastated. I had already been boxing for 18 years at that point. I had given my whole life to boxing and had no life except for boxing.

“I was thinking maybe it’s time to retire and enjoy life.”

But it was the presence of his baby daughter, born during his training camp ahead of the Dubois defeat, which kept him going. “I wanted to try one more time,” he says. “To make her proud.

“I couldn’t let her have a father who is a loser. I needed to do it for her. I swear, I did it for her.”

She is two now and her dad has not lost since. It looked like he might at times on Saturday night, as Moses Itauma set about him from the opening bell.

There is simply no place like ringside when it comes to covering a fight and it just so happened that press row was directly in front of Hrgovic’s closest friends and family.

You could feel the joy pulsating from them once he had won, but it was impossible to escape the terrified pleas of his sister, among others, as she watched Itauma landing with heavy shot after heavy shot.

But all those in attendance would eventually witness one of the great displays of fortitude ever produced in a British ring.

Hrgovic knew Itauma would be dangerous and that he would have to walk through some fire to get his victory, but he never expected the flames to rage as they did.

But really the fight was a microcosm of what the Croatian has had to endure over the two decades since he first started boxing in a country where the sport is marginal at best.

And, while he may be just 21 and have no baby daughter to use for inspiration, Itauma should look no further than Hrgovic as an example for what sheer endurance can earn you in this sport.

Defeat to Dubois left Hrgovic 17-1 while Itauma, much earlier in his career, is only a few fights back at 14-1. He is 13 years Hrgovic’s junior so has plenty of time on his side now he has confirmed that he will be back.

At 21, he is probably yet to identify his favorite chair (that penny usually drops at some point in your 30s) but he might want to get furniture shopping pretty soon. On Saturday’s showing, it won’t be long until he’s the one sat cradling his belt.

I had only been covering boxing for a few of years when I worked as an Olympic News Reporter at London 2012.

Of course everyone knew about Katie Taylor, the five-time world amateur champion, and most expected her to take gold at the Games too.

But what I was not ready for, as I traipsed through ExCeL Arena to take my position in the press box for her first bout at London, was the level of support for then-26-year-old Taylor, or simply “Katie” as she was known to most.

To this day, I cannot think of a single sports star who has garnered the sort of widespread support that she did back then, and continues to do. There were young families, faces painted, gnarled old boxing heads, men, women of all ages there to watch her in action in London.

It was no surprise that her bout against Natasha Jonas in the quarter finals encouraged 113.7 decibels from the crowd, which is higher than the human pain threshold and was the record for any event at London 2012.

I hope someone has got their trusty sound level meter on Saturday night at Croke Park, when she fights for the last time too. Now 14 years on from those Games in London, legacy secured as probably the most influential Irish athlete of all time, there is going to be some roar from the 80,000 packed inside to wave goodbye.

“Working 9-5, what a way to make a living,” was a particularly appropriate choice of ringwalk song from Sam Noakes ahead of his crunch clash with former world champion Denis Berinchyk on Saturday.

The song choice was not only a tribute to the late, great Dolly Parton, who died aged 80 last week, but also a little nod to the extra income he still earns from working on a building site when he isn’t in camp.

On Saturday, Noakes was in complete control throughout the 10 rounds and rightfully earned a lopsided points decision. As a result, he moved up to No. 7 in The Ring’s latest lightweight rankings, posted Monday.

And, on a night typified by perseverance, Noakes (19-1, 16 KOs) is another one who can benefit from the sort of staying power exuded by Hrgovic.

At 29, he is approaching his prime years and, nine months on from that narrow and valiant defeat to the excellent Abdullah Mason in Riyadh, Noakes is ready for another crack at world honors. What a way to make a living.