A British Olympic gold medallist has blamed head coach Ben Davison for Moses Itauma’s tactical flaws against Filip Hrgovic.
The pair collided at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday, with Itauma bidding to become the youngest world heavyweight champion since Mike Tyson dethroned Trevor Berbick in 1986.
And, indeed, he appeared close to doing so after scoring a second-round knockdown and dominating large spells of their contest.
With the 21-year-old constantly throwing power shots and pursuing the knockout, though, he completely abused his engine and was running on empty by round nine.
This then allowed Hrgovic, the vastly experienced veteran, to dish out a sustained onslaught and inspire referee Howard Foster to draw a halt to their previously one-sided encounter.
In doing so, the Croatian became his country’s first-ever world heavyweight champion by claiming the IBF title, which was vacated by Oleksandr Usyk in June.
As for Itauma, former heavyweight contender Audley Harrison has taken to social media and advised the precocious talent to reassess his training situation.
“Moses dared to be great. [Were] his tactics correct? No. I thought the same thing when [Anthony Joshua] boxed [Daniel] Dubois, so from the coaching perspective, I don’t think Ben is tactically getting it right in these big fights.
“If you’ve never boxed, how can you guide a fighter through [a fight like] that? I know Ben boxed a little as an amateur, but the optics (his lens) is off, and it’s becoming a liability for his fighters.
“Moses can’t just bounce back like nothing happened; he’s going to need time to reflect and his closest circle will need to help him find his joy and overcome this setback.”
Though his pro career didn’t reach the heights some had predicted, Harrison remains hugely significant to British boxing, with his historic Olympic gold helping transform the profile of the amateur sport and strengthen the case for increased funding and facilities across the country. In the paid ranks, he went on to win the European heavyweight title and challenge David Haye for the WBA world crown in 2010.
While the main issue for Itauma is evidently his approach to managing the pace of a 12-round fight, it must be said that Joshua’s stoppage defeat to Dubois in 2024 – when Davison appeared in AJ’s corner – was totally different to that of Itauma’s against Hrgovic.
How the young heavyweight rebuilds remains to be seen, though he reportedly wants to return at a high level immediately.
