Moses Itauma has broken his silence and assessed whether Filip Hrgovic truly deserves his respect for winning their dramatic encounter in August.
The pair squared off for the vacant IBF title, with Itauma attempting to become the youngest world heavyweight champion since Mike Tyson dethroned Trevor Berbick in 1986.
For the first eight rounds, the 21-year-old appeared likely to do just that, having landed the cleaner shots, scored an early knockdown and generally outclassed his opponent.
In a stunning turn of events, however, Itauma was reduced to utter exhaustion and Hrgovic, sensing this fatigue, managed to pull off a major upset by stopping his man in round nine.
As a result, the Croatian became his nation’s first world heavyweight champion and, by extension, is now considered one of the division’s leading operators.
Itauma, on the other hand, was forced to suffer his first defeat, amateur or professional, in a contest that he seemed sure to win.
Yet despite the demoralising nature of this setback, Itauma has told Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions that Hrgovic deserves his utmost respect.
“It was a good fight. I didn’t give Hrgovic much respect before the fight [but], during and after [the fight], I did [give him respect].
He deserves it – he won the fight.”
Indeed, Itauma did not appear to respect Hrgovic much during the build-up and, for instance, found it curious that the 34-year-old took pride in having a granite chin.
Well, as it happened, the veteran’s durability, along with his fitness and experience, was why he managed to defeat his quicker and more explosive opponent.
