Round-by-Round: Moses Itauma vs. Filip Hrgovic - 29 August 2026

[gilgamesh]

Anyone who knows boxing knows Itauma will come good

Maybe you’re right, but Itauma was marketed as the modern-day version of the prime version of ‘Iran’ Mike Tyson, the future dominant undisputed world heavyweight champion, and a dead-cert future hall-of-famer.

I feel that no one on planet earth believes this to be the case right now, don’t you agree?

In this current crop of Heavyweights. I do think he'll be back, and I do think he'll be Heavyweight Champion at some point. He may even beat Hrgovic if they have a rematch someday, though I certainly wouldn't rush into that anytime soon. But if they fight again in say 2030. Itauma maybe can win then.

We won't really know how he'll do from here until we see how he mentally copes from this defeat. Some guys get better after a loss. Some guys shrink away, and lose all that made them seem special.

[forcefraser]

Big Phil landed some leather to the body. I felt confident he would win from the 6th round on

[handsofstone]

Anyone who knows boxing knows Itauma will come good

Only against selected opposition. I said it after the Franklin fight, Moses can't fight at a fast pace and tonight proved that. He's a busted flush.

21 year old keef, considering there's no monsters at heavyweight, Dubois is a prime example of coming back from adversity and Itauma is so much better imo, think it was Roy who made the Thompson/Haye comparison, bang on

[Kilburn]

While Moses unwisely opted to win rounds by a mile rather than a yard (to quote Jim Watt), let’s not pretend that he was setting some ridiculous pace even by heavyweight standards.

There is a hell of a lot of work to do with Itauma to address the way he fell apart there, and tactics is only one part of it.

[keithmoonhangover]

Anyone who knows boxing knows Itauma will come good

Only against selected opposition. I said it after the Franklin fight, Moses can't fight at a fast pace and tonight proved that. He's a busted flush.

21 year old keef, considering there's no monsters at heavyweight, Dubois is a prime example of coming back from adversity and Itauma is so much better imo, think it was Roy who made the Thompson/Haye comparison, bang on

I like you, I respect you, but trust me, Itauma will never be the same again.

[gilgamesh]

Only against selected opposition. I said it after the Franklin fight, Moses can't fight at a fast pace and tonight proved that. He's a busted flush.

21 year old keef, considering there's no monsters at heavyweight, Dubois is a prime example of coming back from adversity and Itauma is so much better imo, think it was Roy who made the Thompson/Haye comparison, bang on

I like you, I respect you, but trust me, Itauma will never be the same again.

It's not as if he took a beating. He gassed himself. Stamina and learning to Pace yourself is one of the most fixable weaknesses you could have.

Prior to gassing he took some clean shots from Hrgovic and took them pretty well. So his chin wasn't an issue.

His heart is the unknown. How he handles this defeat will answer our question there.

[keithmoonhangover]

21 year old keef, considering there's no monsters at heavyweight, Dubois is a prime example of coming back from adversity and Itauma is so much better imo, think it was Roy who made the Thompson/Haye comparison, bang on

I like you, I respect you, but trust me, Itauma will never be the same again.

It's not as if he took a beating. He gassed himself. Stamina and learning to Pace yourself is one of the most fixable weaknesses you could have.

Prior to gassing he took some clean shots from Hrgovic and took them pretty well. So his chin wasn't an issue.

His heart is the unknown. How he handles this defeat will answer our question there.

I questioned his stamina and punch resistance before the fight and I got the answers tonight. He bought into the hype, big mistake, big, huge.

[gregregegg]

You simply can’t have explosive power and speed and stamina at 240lb (and be clean). It’s the fast twitch vs slow twitch oversimplification thing.

You can have one or the other or be mediocre at both. There are outliers but no big power puncher can throw hard fast combos that often and no gas.

Lessons need to be learned. And as mentioned befor he needs to aim to win rounds by a yarde not a mile (ok Mabey win them by 20 yards)… and if the knockout comes it comes (it will most often)…

you can’t jump on someone, but not just because you landed, it has to be because you hurt them… and you have to do it efficiently and bail out on the follow up if it dosent re hurt them quick.

Moses should modal himself of tank, low volume but hurtful. Agressive in spurts but not actively attacking. In that headspace he would be very very hard to beat. Because of Moses is in counter mode who is good enough to open him up without getting absolutely punished. Not back footed, just waiting for high impact moments rather than forcing them.

[Kilburn]

I questioned his stamina and punch resistance before the fight and I got the answers tonight. He bought into the hype, big mistake, big, huge.

I think literally everyone did.

[KiwiRider]

Abel is so happy, it's nice to see him relaxed and smiling

[gilgamesh]

I like you, I respect you, but trust me, Itauma will never be the same again.

It's not as if he took a beating. He gassed himself. Stamina and learning to Pace yourself is one of the most fixable weaknesses you could have.

Prior to gassing he took some clean shots from Hrgovic and took them pretty well. So his chin wasn't an issue.

His heart is the unknown. How he handles this defeat will answer our question there.

I questioned his stamina and punch resistance before the fight and I got the answers tonight. He bought into the hype, big mistake, big, huge.

When Wladimir Klitschko lost to Lamon Brewster did you think he was finished? Or did you think he'd be Heavyweight Champion for 9 years after that loss?

I was a fan at the time, and I can tell you. I thought he was finished.

I don't see this loss as any more insurmountable than that one.

[My T Sharp]

He just needs to get his man stamina

[tigermoth87]

That referreing was a disgrace. Itauma was done in the 9th. Staggering around, arms by his side, being held up by the ropes. Ref giving him every chance to continue. Could easily have ended badly for Itauma there.

Reminded me a bit of when Clev was getting mullered by Kov and the ref helped him stagger back to his stool to try again and eat more punishment.

[Sendo Takeshi]

Just watched it.

To be honest, I underestimated Itauma.
I can't believe he (basically) won every round before the stoppage.

His biggest mistake was going for the KO again and again and again.. At some point, you have to accept that you probably aren't going to knock him out. If Itauma had paced himself better, he would've won a decision.

I also read that he was kind of bragging about never going 12 rounds in sparring.
If true, they deserve this lose and need to learn form it..

[KiwiRider]

It's not as if he took a beating. He gassed himself. Stamina and learning to Pace yourself is one of the most fixable weaknesses you could have.

Prior to gassing he took some clean shots from Hrgovic and took them pretty well. So his chin wasn't an issue.

His heart is the unknown. How he handles this defeat will answer our question there.

I questioned his stamina and punch resistance before the fight and I got the answers tonight. He bought into the hype, big mistake, big, huge.

When Wladimir Klitschko lost to Lamon Brewster did you think he was finished? Or did you think he'd be Heavyweight Champion for 9 years after that loss?

I was a fan at the time, and I can tell you. I thought he was finished.

I don't see this loss as any more insurmountable than that one.

Some guys just don't have a good engine.
His team would have reviewed the Franklin performance where he was quite gassed in the 4th and had 5 months to work on his cardio - which is plenty of time, especially for a 21 year old.
There is definitely a good career for him, especially if he can blast out tailor made opponents, Wilder did that for years.
There is a lot to be said about working your way up- and he has skipped a few steps.

[Cent0089]

Some of the comments aged well lol. Hopefully Itauma would be ok

[veriton]

Didn't see the fight but disappointed by the result, mainly because it puts extra weight back on the importance of fury v joshua.

[rd350lc]

Didn't see the fight but disappointed by the result, mainly because it puts extra weight back on the importance of fury v joshua.

Not sure why, they are both done.
I, like others are not even bothered if it happens or not.

[Riddick Bowie]

Anyone noticed how nervous Moses was before the fight? Contrast the body language. Moses looked on edge, crossed himself more than anyone since Frank Bruno in Vegas. Meanwhile Hrg just strolling around the ring with a look of steely composure.

[veriton]

Didn't see the fight but disappointed by the result, mainly because it puts extra weight back on the importance of fury v joshua.

Not sure why, they are both done.
I, like others are not even bothered if it happens or not.

Because Itauma was touted as the king in waiting and this was his coronation. If he had won, fury v joshua would just be two has beens settling an old score.

Itauma is now just another contender so our two ancient friends are back on top billing. Sad but true.

[SeanBrennan]

The only fight I got right was Hysa

[SeanBrennan]

Didn't see the fight but disappointed by the result, mainly because it puts extra weight back on the importance of fury v joshua.

I fell asleep just before it started. The cats basically have a Dazn PPV subscription

[rd350lc]

Didn't see the fight but disappointed by the result, mainly because it puts extra weight back on the importance of fury v joshua.

Not sure why, they are both done.
I, like others are not even bothered if it happens or not.

Because Itauma was touted as the king in waiting and this was his coronation. If he had won, fury v joshua would just be two has beens settling an old score.

Itauma is now just another contender so our two ancient friends are back on top billing. Sad but true.

They are still two old has beens, nowt changes.

[KiwiRider]

Anyone noticed how nervous Moses was before the fight? Contrast the body language. Moses looked on edge, crossed himself more than anyone since Frank Bruno in Vegas. Meanwhile Hrg just strolling around the ring with a look of steely composure.

Yep. A few of us said Hrg really fancies this.
I swapped to team Hrg on Thursday just from his shape and how fit he looked, even after the ref was announced.
I actually surprised myself because up until then I thought Moses was going to get rounds in and win.

[Joson]

Anyone noticed how nervous Moses was before the fight? Contrast the body language. Moses looked on edge, crossed himself more than anyone since Frank Bruno in Vegas. Meanwhile Hrg just strolling around the ring with a look of steely composure.

I just watched the full fight and agree with you completely. Even in the early rounds, which Moses won easily, you could see his confidence melting.

Itauma probably expected his blazing hand speed and crushing knockout power to end matters quickly. But it didn't. Hrg took his beating in true Iron Man style, withstanding Itauma's power, slipping punches, and dancing away as necessary. This made Itauma realize he was facing a true pro. He did not like the way it felt.

Moses will probably go down in history as a head case fighter. Meaning a great talent who lacked the psychological resilience to fulfill his great potential.