Moses Itauma was expected to leave the O2 Arena with a world heavyweight title when he fought Filip Hrgovic last month, but instead he left on a stretcher. In the eyes of one fellow British heavyweight, that night could have a severe impact on the youngster.
Itauma looked to be a level above his Croatian rival when they collided for the IBF crown less than three weeks ago, but Hrgovic’s superior experience proved to be the difference as he outlasted the 21-year-old prodigy.
By the half-way point of the contest, it became clear that Itauma was starting to slow down as he desperately tried to put a dent into the granite-chinned Hrgovic to close the show, but to no avail.
Instead, an exhausted Itauma eventually collapsed under pressure from ‘El Animal’ in round nine, in one of the most shocking moments of the year, with Hrgovic putting an end to Itauma’s undefeated record and becoming Croatia’s first heavyweight world champion.
Speaking to talkSPORT Boxing during the aftermath, Dave Allen admitted that the loss will be extremely hard for Itauma to bounce back from, drawing comparisons between that defeat and his own knockout loss to David Price at the same venue back in 2019.
“He looked like a kid in there, with no experience. He is an incredible talent, he was beating Filip Hrgovic seven rounds to one, there is not many people in the world that could do that, it was incredible, he is incredible, but I’ll tell you one thing – that is going to take some coming back from.
“I have left this arena on a stretcher seven years ago when I boxed David Price and I was never the same man after, never. I have never been the same man or the same fighter since.”
Itauma has immediately requested a rematch with Hrgovic, but it seems as though the heavyweight division’s latest world champion will be made to first defend his title against mandatory challenger Frank Sanchez.
