Moses Itauma shared his first words since being knocked out by Filip Hrgovic and losing his IBF world title fight on Saturday evening.
The 21-year-old was aiming to become the youngest every British heavyweight champion as the two men clashed for the IBF belt but he was stopped in the ninth round after his team threw in the towel.
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Itauma wiped himself out with an early onslaught against the Croatian but Hrgovic came through a brutal few rounds for both men to be crowned as Croatia’s first ever heavyweight champion.
The young Brit was stretchered out of the arena and taken to hospital as a precaution following the fight and posted his reaction to the defeat on social media on Sunday after being discharged. They were the first words he spoke in public since exiting the ring.
“So, yesterday wasn’t my night. We attempted greatness and we just fell short to the more experienced man,” he said in his video post.
“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.
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“I want to thank the fans in and outside the arena, you guys made it a little bit more special and a little bit more electrifying than I expected.
“It was a f*****g 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.”
Moses Itauma was stopped in the ninth round of his clash with Filip Hrgovic (Getty)
Itauma’s word praised Hrgovic as well as the promoters and broadcasters of the fight before promising his fans that he would ‘be back’.
For his part, Hrgovic was also respectful to Itauma when he spoke after the fight on Saturday. Whilst being interviewed in the ring the Croatian said: “He’s an amazing fighter – I want to thank him.
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“To give me a chance to become a new superstar in the heavyweight division. I am the present. He is definitely the future.
“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.
“From the first round, I saw him 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.”
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