It was an incredible fight at London’s O2 Arena, where hometown hero Moses Itauma, after dominating much of the contest, scoring a knockdown and landing an astonishing number of heavy shots, was ultimately stopped by Croatia’s Filip Hrgovic. The TKO came in the ninth round, when the referee and Itauma’s corner intervened almost simultaneously as the young heavyweight was no longer able to remain upright. The victory therefore saw a jubilant Hrgovic crowned IBF heavyweight world champion.
The opening of the fight confirmed what many observers—including this writer—had identified beforehand as the potentially decisive factor: the enormous difference in speed between the two fighters. For three minutes, Hrgovic, who bravely tried to challenge his opponent for control of the centre of the ring, could make little sense of what was happening, as Itauma repeatedly beat him to the punch and caught him with counters.
Things went from good to better for the hometown favourite in the second round, when a right hook to the temple caught Hrgovic as he was coming forward, knocking him off balance and causing him to briefly touch the canvas. The referee had no choice but to administer a count, and the situation appeared to be firmly under control for the overwhelming pre-fight favourite.
Itauma absorbed his first significant punches of the fight in the second half of the third round, but the impression was that he was deliberately trying to draw his opponent out so that he could capitalize on the openings. Sure enough, shortly before the bell, another vicious combination crashed into the Croatian.
Hrgovic continued to serve as a “human punching bag,” absorbing one bomb after another with incredible stoicism. Particularly impressive was the uppercut he took flush on the chin in the final instant of the fifth round: the Croatian’s head snapped back, but he remained on his feet and calmly returned to his corner as though nothing had happened.
After showing some signs of fatigue toward the end of the sixth round, during which he had been forced to absorb a few too many punches, Itauma was finally able to slow the pace in the seventh. It was a fairly even round, characterized by less furious exchanges. Then, just when Hrgovic himself appeared to be tiring of marching forward and getting peppered with punches, the eighth round produced the dramatic turning point of the fight.
Instead of continuing to manage the situation, safe in the knowledge that he held a commanding lead on the scorecards, Itauma once again stepped hard on the accelerator. Hrgovic appeared close to breaking point: he was no longer coming forward, he was barely answering Itauma’s punches, and he was circling along the ropes trying to escape his opponent’s attacks. That passive approach encouraged the Englishman to intensify his assault even further in search of the knockout, but in doing so he pushed himself beyond the critical threshold of his energy reserves.
Hrgovic, although hardly fresh himself, noticed his opponent’s exhaustion and realized that the opportunity of a lifetime was suddenly within his grasp. Summoning an extraordinary effort of will, he began his remarkable sporting comeback and finished the round on the offensive.
The dramatic ninth round saw both fighters drain the last drops from their respective fuel tanks, and Itauma was the first to run empty. Under the weight of the punches he was taking, he gradually lost control of his legs until he reached the point where he needed the ropes to keep himself from collapsing to the canvas.
Trainer Ben Davison and referee Howard Foster waited too long to bring an end to a fight that was becoming dangerous for the young man’s health. When they finally acted, they did so virtually simultaneously, Davison waving the towel while Foster wrapped his arms around an Itauma who appeared on the verge of collapse.
There were some frightening moments after the fight due to the defeated boxer’s state of extreme exhaustion. Itauma left the ring on a stretcher and was taken to hospital for medical checks. According to the first reports to emerge so far, doctors appear to have made reassuring comments regarding his condition, although naturally the situation will need to be monitored over the coming hours.
“He’s an amazing fighter. I want to thank him for accepting this fight… I’m the present and he’s definitely the future!” were the words new world champion Filip Hrgovic addressed to Itauma after the fight. The Croatian earned the belt by displaying extraordinary punch resistance and admirable strength of character.
From my point of view, Itauma paid the price for reckless tactical management, which led him to pursue the knockout at all costs in a fight he could have handled much more calmly, content to keep piling up points on the scorecards without overdoing things. Daniel Dubois suffered a similar fate when he faced the granite-tough Joe Joyce at the age of 23 and came away badly damaged. Will Itauma be able to get his career back on track and return to the upper reaches of the heavyweight division, just as his countryman did? Only time will give us the answers.