Speaking at the opening of the Club Eight 3 gym in Chatham, highly promising young British heavyweight Moses Itauma publicly reflected for the first time on his defeat to Filip Hrgovic on August 29 of this year. Here is what he said:
For a long time, I couldn’t accept it had happened. I was winning the fight so comfortably, and then all of a sudden my body just started shutting itself down. But even though I didn’t get the decision I wanted, I was proud of my performance. For the knowledge I had, for the talent I had, and for the experience I had, I put on a good show.
I’ll be back. The identity of being a boxer is still deeply rooted in me, so just because I lost doesn’t mean that that’s going to change. That was the third round I’ve ever lost in my boxing career; it just happened to be for the heavyweight championship of the world at 21 years of age. I’m not tripping over it. I attempted greatness, and I fell short.
Skill-wise, Hrgovic didn’t surprise me, but he’s very durable. I’ve always been able to do things that other people couldn’t do. Jermaine Franklin’s never looked like he’s ever been in any trouble, but I knocked him out. Against Hrgovic, I was an arm’s length away from so much greatness, and maybe that was the experience that I needed to have.
It was all the way till a minute before the fight stopped. I didn’t have a worry, and it was only a couple of minutes into round nine that I started moving in slow motion, and he was in fast motion. It was like I just couldn’t do anything. Obviously, the exhaustion must have kicked in, but at no point in that fight was I like, ‘Oh, I’m messing up’.
Itauma is expected to return to the ring in January. The identity of his opponent has yet to be revealed, but his promoter Frank Warren has stated that it will be a familiar name in the heavyweight division.