Moses Itauma is determined to turn Saturday’s historic upset into a positive.
Itauma suffered a shocking loss to Filip Hrgovic this weekend inside London’s O2 Arena, getting stopped in the ninth round of a fight for the vacant IBF heavyweight world title. Itauma, 21, was attempting to be boxing’s youngest heavyweight world champion since Mike Tyson achieved the feat with a knockout of Trevor Berbick in 1986. The young Briton knocked Hrgovic down early and dominated the first eight rounds of the contest before succumbing to exhaustion and allowing Hrgovic to steal the belt in a surreal scene.
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On Sunday afternoon, less than 24 hours after getting stretchered out of the ring, Itauma (14-1, 12 KOs) issued his first comments on his first professional loss, congratulating Hrgovic and vowing to use his missteps Saturday as a learning experience.
Itauma’s full statement:
“So, yesterday it wasn’t my night. We attempted greatness and we just fell short to the more experienced man. I want to say congratulations to Filip Hrgovic on his win. And although I never reached my desired outcome, I believe I gained experience that I’ll take to my future fights. I want to thank the fans in and outside of the arena — you guys made it a little bit more special and a little bit more electrifying than I expected. It was a f***ing good fight, and I want to thank Queensberry and DAZN for putting this show on. So God bless, take care, and I’ll be back.”
For what it’s worth, Hrgovic (21-1, 16 KOs) agreed with Itauma’s assessment in regards to a need for future growth. The 2016 Olympic bronze medalist said post-fight that Itauma lost only because he “fought like an amateur.”
“Honestly, I’ve never been in the ring with someone like him. But he’s inexperienced,” Hrgovic said of Itauma. “I saw from the first round that he was breathing hard, throwing too hard.
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“He can be better if he learns a professional style of fighting. … Use his legs and box. He was winning all the rounds. He went toe-to-toe with me, and it was a very stupid move from him. Inexperienced. He’s an amazing fighter but he’s still young.”
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