Warren reveals he wanted a different opponent for Itauma.
Last week, the boxing world saw Moses Itauma suffer his first professional defeat at the hands of Filip Hrgovic. And for those who truly believed in the 21-year-old talent, it was a sobering loss indeed.
A fight for the vacant IBF heavyweight title, Itauma had built a commanding lead, dominating the action with his superior speed and technical ability.
However, Hrgovic is a fighter who is renowned for his granite chin, and he was able to take Itauma further into a fight than anyone before.
In the 9th round, it was incredibly apparent that Itauma had completely run out of steam. And shortly after the bout was stopped, the young Briton collapsed due to sheer exhaustion and was taken out of the ring on a stretcher.
Many have questioned Itauma’s conditioning in the days since, given how suddenly he appeared to tire after going past the 6th round for the very first time.
However, Frank Warren (who promotes both Itauma and Hrgovic under Queensberry Promotions) has stated that it was his intention to avoid this situation entirely, with the veteran promoter being known for matching his fighters well and at the right time.
“I was disappointed because first of all, this fight, I was looking to make it against a different opponent”, Warren said. “But we were talking about it, and they [Itauma’s team] said that [Hrgovic] was the opponent they wanted and that he’s perfect in every way.
“But if he [Itauma] had gone and knocked him out in the 8th round, then everyone would have been [thought of as] a genius. In some ways, I’m pleased with what happened on Saturday. I know that might sound perverse, because if he’d been fighting 98 percent of any of the heavyweights in the world, he’d have stopped him. I’ve no doubt about it.”
Regardless, Warren stated that he would be sitting down with Itauma’s team in a few weeks’ time to discuss what truly went wrong.
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