Hrgovic schools Itauma to become IBF master

Heavyweight boxing has a new IBF champ in Filip Hrgovic yet it was his opponent who was expected to be the latest king.

Moses Itauma has been in the spotlight since he was embarrassing in sparring seasoned pros as a 15-year-old schoolboy.  Fourteen straight wins, including 12 knockouts excited all and he was expected to roll Hrgovic over.

But on Saturday night at London’s O2 Arena, the 21-year-old Brit was finally schooled, as he ran out of gas and the granite resolve of Hrgovic carried him to the vacant IBF title.

The referee waved off the fight as Itauma’s corner threw in the towel in the ninth round. But for spells, Itauma dominated, repeatedly finding Hrgovic with big shots and showing why so many observers believed he would win easily.

But lack of experience and conditioning showed. An exhausted Itauma left the arena on a stretcher, before being taken to hospital.

Hrgovic, 34, spent fight week repeatedly mocking Itauma’s age, dismissing him as “just a kid”. As the week wore on, Itauma became increasingly irritated and eventually lost his composure at the weigh-in, shoving Hrgovic before the Croatian responded with a slap. The tactic clearly worked.