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

[gilgamesh]

Just watched it back. I noticed Hrgovic landing some great body shots, especially in the last two rounds. A lot of people (including me) questioning Itauma's stamina, but those body shots did some serious damage, even the last punch of the fight was a hard shot into Itauma's bread basket.

Imagine what a problem Kabayel would be for a fighter with a stamina problem. Kabayel is about as consistent a body puncher as you'll see at Heavyweight. It seems like 50% of his attack is aimed at the body.

Hence Uysk turned him down and no one is lining up even though he is supposed to get a title shot.

Title shot? Didn't they just hand him (Kabayel) the WBC Title?

[KiwiRider]

Imagine what a problem Kabayel would be for a fighter with a stamina problem. Kabayel is about as consistent a body puncher as you'll see at Heavyweight. It seems like 50% of his attack is aimed at the body.

Hence Uysk turned him down and no one is lining up even though he is supposed to get a title shot.

Title shot? Didn't they just hand him (Kabayel) the WBC Title?

Yeah, finally. But no money in that until he fights someone.

[gilgamesh]

Hence Uysk turned him down and no one is lining up even though he is supposed to get a title shot.

Title shot? Didn't they just hand him (Kabayel) the WBC Title?

Yeah, finally. But no money in that until he fights someone.

Hey with the WBC Title at stake his next fight will almost certainly be worth more than his previous one against Damian Knyba.

[coneye]

Can't see any of the new crop wanting to play with him

[keithmoonhangover]

Just watched it back. I noticed Hrgovic landing some great body shots, especially in the last two rounds. A lot of people (including me) questioning Itauma's stamina, but those body shots did some serious damage, even the last punch of the fight was a hard shot into Itauma's bread basket.

Imagine what a problem Kabayel would be for a fighter with a stamina problem. Kabayel is about as consistent a body puncher as you'll see at Heavyweight. It seems like 50% of his attack is aimed at the body.

A great example is when he beat Zhang.

However not a lot of fighters would have been able to take what Moses gave out

I just don't think Itauma was in great shape.

[forcefraser]

He did take some stick to the body. In the 8th and particularly in the 9th he took some massive shots in the gut.

That last one that sent him flying into the ropes could have done him no favours. Maybe that was the shot that did his legs in

[keithmoonhangover]

He did take some stick to the body. In the 8th and particularly in the 9th he took some massive shots in the gut.

That last one that sent him flying into the ropes could have done him no favours. Maybe that was the shot that did his legs in

Yeah, that lost body shot was a tremendous blow.

[Coco]

Imagine what a problem Kabayel would be for a fighter with a stamina problem. Kabayel is about as consistent a body puncher as you'll see at Heavyweight. It seems like 50% of his attack is aimed at the body.

A great example is when he beat Zhang.

However not a lot of fighters would have been able to take what Moses gave out

I just don't think Itauma was in great shape.

It's not so much that, the issue is working at a pace you don't want to.

Even for Fury, usually he is in complete control of the pace, against Uysk in the first fight, despite winning the first half of the fight, he wasn't in control of the pace and couldn't keep it up.

I'm sure Moses can easily do 12 at his own pace, and in the gym no-one is good enough to push him.

When he was pushed, he fell short

[keithmoonhangover]

A great example is when he beat Zhang.

However not a lot of fighters would have been able to take what Moses gave out

I just don't think Itauma was in great shape.

It's not so much that, the issue is working at a pace you don't want to.

Even for Fury, usually he is in complete control of the pace, against Uysk in the first fight, despite winning the first half of the fight, he wasn't in control of the pace and couldn't keep it up.

I'm sure Moses can easily do 12 at his own pace, and in the gym no-one is good enough to push him.

When he was pushed, he fell short

I agree with all of that, but I do think he was a little soft on Saturday night. I'd be very surprised if he doesn't come in lighter next time out. As an ex-pro, what do you think of Itauma saying he's never sparred twelve rounds?

[Coco]

I just don't think Itauma was in great shape.

It's not so much that, the issue is working at a pace you don't want to.

Even for Fury, usually he is in complete control of the pace, against Uysk in the first fight, despite winning the first half of the fight, he wasn't in control of the pace and couldn't keep it up.

I'm sure Moses can easily do 12 at his own pace, and in the gym no-one is good enough to push him.

When he was pushed, he fell short

I agree with all of that, but I do think he was a little soft on Saturday night. I'd be very surprised if he doesn't come in lighter next time out. As an ex-pro, what do you think of Itauma saying he's never sparred twelve rounds?

Crazy, I do agree he wasn't in good enough shape, as well as getting the tactics wrong.

Were they cutting costs on sparring partners?

Who is the boss in the gym?

Was he even doing 12 hard rounds on the pads?

[keithmoonhangover]

It's not so much that, the issue is working at a pace you don't want to.

Even for Fury, usually he is in complete control of the pace, against Uysk in the first fight, despite winning the first half of the fight, he wasn't in control of the pace and couldn't keep it up.

I'm sure Moses can easily do 12 at his own pace, and in the gym no-one is good enough to push him.

When he was pushed, he fell short

I agree with all of that, but I do think he was a little soft on Saturday night. I'd be very surprised if he doesn't come in lighter next time out. As an ex-pro, what do you think of Itauma saying he's never sparred twelve rounds?

Crazy, I do agree he wasn't in good enough shape, as well as getting the tactics wrong.

Were they cutting costs on sparring partners?

Who is the boss in the gym?

Was he even doing 12 hard rounds on the pads?

It baffles me how badly he fatigued, although Hrgovic did land some great body shots. He's not the first guy to blow all of his energy, but I can't ever recall someone who wasn't badly beaten being stretchered out. And I've been watching boxing since 1975.

[Coco]

I agree with all of that, but I do think he was a little soft on Saturday night. I'd be very surprised if he doesn't come in lighter next time out. As an ex-pro, what do you think of Itauma saying he's never sparred twelve rounds?

Crazy, I do agree he wasn't in good enough shape, as well as getting the tactics wrong.

Were they cutting costs on sparring partners?

Who is the boss in the gym?

Was he even doing 12 hard rounds on the pads?

It baffles me how badly he fatigued, although Hrgovic did land some great body shots. He's not the first guy to blow all of his energy, but I can't ever recall someone who wasn't badly beaten being stretchered out. And I've been watching boxing since 1975.

I imagine the occasion got to him too, spending nervous energy

[keithmoonhangover]

Crazy, I do agree he wasn't in good enough shape, as well as getting the tactics wrong.

Were they cutting costs on sparring partners?

Who is the boss in the gym?

Was he even doing 12 hard rounds on the pads?

It baffles me how badly he fatigued, although Hrgovic did land some great body shots. He's not the first guy to blow all of his energy, but I can't ever recall someone who wasn't badly beaten being stretchered out. And I've been watching boxing since 1975.

I imagine the occasion got to him too, spending nervous energy

Yeah, there's a lot of reasons, but I think the main one is Hrgovic.

[forcefraser]

The body shot in the 9th that smashed him back onto rhe ropes looked to get him right in the solar plexus. He was on queer street after that landed