‘What in the hell??’: Filip Hrgovic’s unreal win over Moses Itauma leaves boxing world dumbfounded

For nearly eight rounds, it looked like a foregone conclusion that Moses Itauma was going to defeat Filip Hrgovic and capture the IBF heavyweight world title Saturday inside London’s O2 Arena. Doing so would’ve made Itauma — a 21-year-old prodigy long hailed as a future of boxing’s blue-ribbon division — the youngest heavyweight world champion since Mike Tyson knocked out Trevor Berbick in 1986.

But then disaster struck. And now Hrgovic is first Croatia’s first heavyweight champion — and the victor of one of the most surreal scenes in recent boxing history.

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After losing nearly every second of every round, Hrgovic (21-1, 16 KOs) mounted an improbable comeback to stop an exhausted Itauma (14-1, 12 KOs) via ninth-round TKO. Ironically, it was Hrgovic’s pre-fight emphasis on the value of a strong chin that proved to be most prophetic, as Hrgovic survived an outrageous onslaught of offense from the young phenom yet continued to push forward and stay in the fight.

Itauma had never made it out of the sixth round as a professional prior to Saturday night, and that inexperience reared its head at the worst of times, as the Briton barely appeared to have the energy to stand by the final round and was ultimately transported out of the arena on a stretcher after his team opted to throw in the towel.

Given that many assumed Itauma’s coronation as heavyweight’s new standard-bearer was an inevitability, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Saturday’s result sent shockwaves throughout the boxing landscape. Check out how Shakur Stevenson, Jake Paul and more reacted to Hrgovic’s career-changing performance below.