Thrown to the Wolves: A Critical Analysis of Moses Itauma’s Heavyweight Loss to Filip Hrgovic
Editorial By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
According to Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, “Let’s also not make out that Filip Hrgovic is some terminator. Daniel Dubois had him all over the place and stopped him. I know he was cut. David Adeleye had him out. Moses never had him (Hrgovic) out on his feet. He’s a young man with exceptional talent. People keep saying this will be the making of him. This will be the making or breaking of him because it’s a lot to come back from. It’s a humbling way to get beat. He couldn’t stand up, but he did show a lot of heart. So, on the whole, there’s a lot you can take out of it. And (Moses) he’s a young man, (and) a great talent. He’ll be back.”
In the United Kingdom, they pull no punches when it comes to nonstop heavyweight action a thrill a minute. From the drama of Henry Cooper’s knockdown of Cassius Clay, Joe Louis versus Tommy Farr, Rocky Marciano versus Don Cockell, Jerry Quarry’s knockout of Jack Bodell, to Mike Tyson’s loss to Danny Williams, and on and on, British boxing has floored the heavyweight gas pedal of late.
Fabio Wardley was thrown to the wolves against Joseph Parker and Daniel Dubois. Moses Itauma versus Filip Hrgovic looked a great deal like when David Haye was thrown in against Carl Thompson. Talking trainwreck. A detailed analysis of Itauma’s record under the magnifying glass shows he was forced to go the distance in 2023 with two fighters who lack winning records, Kevin Nicholas Espindola and Kostiantyn Dovbyshchenko, fighters who today have a combined 30 losses.
In his last previous bout, Itauma stopped faded American Jermaine Franklin in the fifth round. Most of the rest of his opponents were one- or two-round frightened rabbit gumballs. All of these bouts did not put Moses Itauma into the world-class elite group of fighters despite the considerable publicity and hype which was built around him. Itauma was, essentially, set up to be exposed. A true master counterpuncher, like Jimmy Young proved against George Foreman, will make your life miserable.
Itauma’s best asset in his 14 wins was his power with speed. However, that power was against limited opposition. The Dillian Whyte bout looked similar to Gerry Cooney’s wins over Ron Lyle and Ken Norton, aging, scared, washed-up opponents. While Itauma entered the ring against Hrgovic at the top of his game and presented hell from the onset, Itauma, a proposed prelim bout version of Deontay Wilder, is a six-round fighter, and not an eight-, ten-, or 12-round fighter. This is why you would not put him in with a legitimate 10- or 12-round contender. The promoters did it anyway, as the Itauma promotion hype had been considerable.
Where, oh where did the British get the idea to put Itauma in an International Boxing Federation world title bout with a world-ranked opponent? Filip Hrgovic was making mincemeat of world-class opponents like Eric Molina and Amir Mansour from the start of his career. Hrgovic went 10 rounds and defeated Zhilei Zhang without fear, size, power, and all. Somehow, the Hrgovic win over Zhang was forgotten. Hrgovic was in an IBF title bout before with Daniel Dubois, and subsequently defeated Joe Joyce, the first man to knock out Dubois. All of these factors seem to have been discarded, and caution thrown to the wind, to make Hrgovic versus Itauma happen. Hrgovic seemed to have been shuffled to the ‘B’ corner.
Dereck Chisora pointed out after this bout that Itauma was punching up to reach Hrgovic, straining his shoulders, and draining power over time. The inexperienced Itauma failed to pace himself, running out of gas in a dangerous pursuit of an early knockout against a world-class opponent, treating him like just another stiff. While Itauma did dominate the first half of the fight as a six-round fighter, even scoring a second-round flash knockdown, Hrgović’s iron chin, durability, world-class experience, and well-calculated tactical patience allowed him to weather the storm.
Once the fight moved into the later rounds, Itauma entered world championship uncharted waters, and an exhausted display eventually sent him to the canvas, where he could not get up. By the time his trainer Ben Davison threw in the towel at 2:27 of round nine, serious damage had been done, enough to nearly end his career before it ever really started post hype.
There is no excuse for not being prepared for a world-class bout and having the record and the experience before going into a bout like that. Tyson Fury versus Anthony Joshua should have taken place when they were both world champions, not when they are afterthoughts. Itauma was not ready for the bout with Hrgovic. Itauma was like a Lamar Clark, loading up for the early knockout, without consideration for the technical abilities of his opponent in a long, drawn-out bout.
In the resulting fight to the brutal finish in the late rounds, Itauma was never going to make it out of there. The towel was thrown, but by that point, Itauma had slumped to the canvas, out of gas, thoroughly beaten, and completely gone. And it was not like George Foreman versus Ron Lyle back in the day. Itauma was savagely beaten, in a bout which should have been stopped a round earlier. Watching Itauma staggering around the ring, vulnerable and defenseless, made this reporter question the dignity of the matchup. It should not have taken Itauma’s final plunge to the canvas, beaten into hopeless defeat and exhaustion, to end the bout.
If Itauma was placed in the ring with Daniel Dubois instead of Hrgovic, in this reporter’s view the bout would have ended the same as Dubois’s bout with Fabio Wardley-badly. Beyond the hype, a fighter has to work their way up to the top before being thrown to the wolves. Itauma started well-but-in reality-remains a six-round fighter. The ultimate result, the ninth-round stoppage win for Hrgovic over Itauma, was NOT a surprise. So many of the top heavyweights are in the British stables today; inside matchups are inevitable, whether or not they are prudent. In a sense, Filip Hrgovic is a survivor of the British system, a rare Croatian world heavyweight champion. Considering his progression to 21-1 in his nine-year professional career so far, challengers should think twice before stepping in the ring with Hrgovic. Itauma could rise from this defeat, or wind up going the same road as David Price and Joy Joyce. Career brought up, and career brought down.
Overall, it is a rough tide to ride the waves of highly competitive British heavyweight boxing today. Probably more money exists for British heavyweights and heavyweights who come to the United Kingdom to fight, or sometimes for large-scale promotions staged in Saudi Arabia. Money talks and bullsh#t walks in 2026, and everybody cannot be the world heavyweight champion. As Oleksandr Usyk gave up his unified heavyweight titles, and now the alphabet heavyweight titles have gone out in separate bits and pieces, unbalanced promotions are going to occur. Whereas Tyson Fury versus Anthony Joshua is not for any kind of world title, it is promotable. In this reporter’s view, like Floyd Mayweather versus Manny Pacquiao, the bout between Fury and Joshua should have taken place much earlier in their careers as opposed to the tail end. At least, it is an even matchup on paper, and not a matchup where one boxer’s career is thrown to the wolves.
Tyson Fury explained the result of Moses Itauma versus Filip Hrgovic from his viewpoint. “They actually took him (Itauma) away on a stretcher because he was that fatigued. He couldn’t walk. He knocked himself out. He fell over from exhaustion. Anybody with knowledge of boxing knew if you take Moses into deep water mentally as well as physically, where he hasn’t been, it’s gonna be challenging. It’s not rocket science, and me being involved in this game all of my life, I told everybody that fight was too soon for Moses, but nobody would listen.”
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