Image source, Getty ImagesFilip Hrgovic has picked up 15 of his 20 wins by stoppage
ByKal SajadBBC Sport boxing journalist at O2 Arena, London
Filip Hrgovic ripped up the script and shattered Moses Itauma’s world-title dream as the Briton appeared to punch himself out in an extraordinary heavyweight contest in London.
Itauma, 21, controlled most of the fight and scored a second-round knockdown but faded as his relentless output caught up with him.
Hrgovic weathered the storm and piled on the pressure in the ninth. With Itauma barely able to stand, his legs unsteady and body swaying before slumping in the corner, his team threw in the towel.
Itauma – who needed medical attention before leaving the arena on a stretcher – had been a heavy favourite after tearing through his first 14 opponents and was spoken about as heavyweight boxing’s next superstar.
“He is the best I have been in the ring with, but he needs more experience. I knew I was losing the round, but I knew that I had the pace in my favour. He needs more experience, but he is one of a kind,” Hrgovic said.
“From the first round, I saw his gassing out. He started fast. I knew he was going to gas out. I knew when my chance came I needed to push. That is what I did.”
With the vacant IBF title on the line, victory would have made Itauma the second-youngest world champion in the division’s history.
Instead, his inexperience began to show as his Croatian opponent – an Olympic bronze medallist whose only previous professional defeat came against Daniel Dubois – survived everything Itauma threw at him before completing a remarkable turnaround.
Image source, Getty ImagesHrgovic is the first heavyweight world champion from Croatia
Hrgovic – wearing the red and white checks of his country – made his entrance first to a wall of boos, before the mood inside the O2 Arena flipped as Itauma emerged to a huge roar – taking his time and soaking up the reception.
The crowd had made its allegiances clear after a fiery build-up which included Itauma shoving Hrgovic, the Zagreb man slapping him back and plenty of verbal sparring.
Itauma came out with real intent, landing straight lefts from his southpaw stance. Hrgovic is known for his durability but struggled to keep pace with the Briton’s speed early on.
Early in the second, a right hook knocked Hrgovic off-balance and his glove touched the canvas. Oasis star Noel Gallagher and boxing legend Prince Naseem Hamed were among those watching as the crowd gasped at almost every Itauma punch, whether it landed or not.
But by the end of the third, Itauma – who had boxed just 26 professional rounds before his first world-title fight – was already breathing heavily.
There had also been questions over his chin, simply because it had never really been tested. Hrgovic began landing the occasional heavy shot but Itauma took them well and fired straight back.
A fight in the crowd momentarily took attention away from the action in the fifth before an Itauma uppercut in the closing seconds brought the focus back to the ring.
Itauma continued to fire combinations but Hrgovic was barely budging. A huge right landed on the bell in the sixth and another followed in the seventh, yet the Croatian simply walked through them.
The Briton was well ahead but, rather than box his way towards victory, he continued to chase the knockout. A flurry in the eighth backed Hrgovic on to the ropes and had him in trouble, but Itauma was grimacing between exchanges and looking increasingly spent.
By now the danger was clear. Hrgovic came out with renewed purpose in the ninth and landed a thudding right which sent Itauma staggering backwards, almost through the ropes.
The youngster somehow stayed upright but his legs had gone. Hrgovic continued to press and when Itauma slumped into his corner, exhausted and barely able to defend himself, the towel came in.
Image source, Getty ImagesItauma had stopped 12 of his previous 14 opponents
Hrgovic admitted he had been “outboxed” but leaves London as Croatia’s first heavyweight world champion, with Frank Sanchez waiting as the IBF mandatory challenger.
A unification fight could follow, with Daniel Dubois holding the WBO title and set to face Fabio Wardley again in October.
For Itauma, this was supposed to be a coronation.
Instead, he leaves the O2 Arena with questions over whether the step up came too soon.
He has time to rebuild and there will be a strong feeling that, with a little more experience, this night could have ended very differently.
Londoner Dubois was stopped by Joe Joyce as an unbeaten 23-year-old before going on to become a two-time world champion. Itauma has even more time on his side.
“He’s an amazing fighter,” Hrgovic said. “I am the present. He is definitely the future.”
Promoter Frank Warren suggested Itauma was carrying a leg injury in the final round but backed him to return.
“Moses gave everything,” he added. “He has to go back to the drawing board and he can come again.”
The expectation around Itauma will not disappear entirely overnight but the aura of invincibility has gone.
