Ryan Garcia has offered a few words of advice to rising star Moses Itauma, who suffered the first defeat of his career against Filip Hrgovic last Saturday.
The Brit was bidding to become the youngest world heavyweight champion since Mike Tyson, only for Hrgovic to pull off a major upset at London’s O2 Arena.
Itauma had, indeed, been made an almighty favourite and looked to be in control, dominating their exchanges with a pronounced speed advantage.
After attempting to knock his man out in round eight, however, the 21-year-old ran out of gas and was stopped on his feet in the following three minutes.
As a result, Hrgovic claimed the vacant IBF strap and now looks set to face mandatory challenger Frank Sanchez, who stepped aside and allowed the Croatian to become his country’s first-ever heavyweight champion.
Itauma, meanwhile, appears to have some rebuilding to do, with many hoping that he makes the necessary improvements and eventually fulfils his full potential.
Speaking during a media scrum, WBC welterweight champion Garcia suggested Itauma should start with focusing on his conditioning.
“It seemed like he had asthma. It’s a marathon – don’t look too much into this defeat. Look into what you need to fix, for sure, but don’t let it get you down completely.“
“You were obviously the better fighter – you just weren’t conditioned and you just don’t have enough experience at this current time.“
“He was doing pretty good, but I don’t know what was going on in his head. If you watch his interviews before, he was saying that he’s not the best physically right now, nor mentally, but that it would be enough to beat Hrgovic.”
While many have attributed Itauma’s defeat to a lack of fitness, it was perhaps more a result of his inexperience and overall approach to a 12-round fight.
