Moses Itauma suffered the first defeat of his career after coming up short against Filip Hrgovic in their vacant IBF heavyweight title fight.
Itauma looked to be well on his way to becoming the second youngest world heavyweight champion of all time after a quick start against Hrgovic, dropping the Croatian in the second round before continuing to dominate the rounds.
It soon became clear that he was starting to tire though, and after Hrgovic showed a superb chin, he was able to take full advantage in the ninth round, turning things around and stopping an exhausted Itauma to claim the TKO victory.
Itauma will now have to go back to the drawing board after the defeat, but one man who is already certain he will come back better from this experience is former WBC cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew.
Posting on social media, Bellew described the youngster as ‘brave’ in his defeat, and remains convinced that he will become world champion one day.
“Filip done amazing to ride through the storm! I’ll say this now! Moses Itauma will be world champion! He will learn so much from tonight.
“The biggest thing I’ll take from tonight is just how brave and tough Moses was, We knew Filip was super tough. Tonight we learned Moses is also tough. Once he learns to pace a 12 round bout he’s going to rule for a while! Filip Hrgovic’s chin needs to studied.”
Promoter Frank Warren has also shared his reaction to Itauma’s defeat, revealing that the 21-year-old suffered a leg injury in the contest.
