Moses Itauma: what’s next?

[mickey1975]

Isn't he retired?

Apparently not. He would definitely give him rounds. It would be a good 10 rounder. The problem is TV aren't looking for that.

Has Hughie Fury ever been in a 10-12 rounder that someone described as ‘good’ at the end of the fight.

Not sure. I know he's been 12 three times with world class fighters without ever looking hurt.

[Tony1244]

Itauma lost it rather than Hrg winning it. Hrg hadn't won a round, he only won because Moses punched himself to a standstill. He done well to take the shots and hang on but he really only had success because Moses threw it away.

Yet Ali did this against foreman and he’s considered a genius… Michael Watson was lauded for his tactics over Benn. I mean pacing yourself and having a realistic game plan going in is part of boxing. Hrgovic had the perfect game plan - use his experience to get through the early rounds, whilst Itauma works hard, once Moses starts tiring Hrgovic upped his work rate and started to pressure and land. You could see Filip start landing from round 3 - though he realised Itauma wasn’t ready to go. Hrgovic controlled the fight and paced himself even though Moses was winning the rounds Hrg was landing and getting closer. He then bullied and bashed up an exhausted Itauma. I don’t buy the “Itauma lost the fight, Hrgovic don’t win it" narrative.

I don't think Ali was a genius for beating Foreman, he had a gameplay to tire Foreman out but Foreman still fought a silly fight. Plus Ali was ahead on all three scorecards. I would bet if Foreman and Benn had rematches with Ali and Watson they wouldn't fight the same way. I'm not saying Hrg deserves no credit, of course not but the main reason he won was more what Moses did to himself, Hrg just had the experience to take advantage when Moses ran out of ideas and steam.

How should Foeman have fought Ali?

[Controversial]

Yet Ali did this against foreman and he’s considered a genius… Michael Watson was lauded for his tactics over Benn. I mean pacing yourself and having a realistic game plan going in is part of boxing. Hrgovic had the perfect game plan - use his experience to get through the early rounds, whilst Itauma works hard, once Moses starts tiring Hrgovic upped his work rate and started to pressure and land. You could see Filip start landing from round 3 - though he realised Itauma wasn’t ready to go. Hrgovic controlled the fight and paced himself even though Moses was winning the rounds Hrg was landing and getting closer. He then bullied and bashed up an exhausted Itauma. I don’t buy the “Itauma lost the fight, Hrgovic don’t win it" narrative.

I don't think Ali was a genius for beating Foreman, he had a gameplay to tire Foreman out but Foreman still fought a silly fight. Plus Ali was ahead on all three scorecards. I would bet if Foreman and Benn had rematches with Ali and Watson they wouldn't fight the same way. I'm not saying Hrg deserves no credit, of course not but the main reason he won was more what Moses did to himself, Hrg just had the experience to take advantage when Moses ran out of ideas and steam.

How should Foeman have fought Ali?

Maybe loading up and hitting his arms for round after round as Ali sat back covering up wasn’t wise in hindsight as he wore himself out.

[Perkin Warbeck]

Jolly would be okay as a confidence-building fight after a loss like that.

Moses would easily win, but Jolly would give him rounds. Then a decent journeyman like Dacres, then a top 15-20 heavyweight like Huni.

21 year old fighters need to remain active, fight every three months, not once every six months like Itauma has.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Frank~Warren Wants Answers In Meeting With Itauma, Davison

Frank~Warren will hold talks with Moses Itauma and his trainer Ben Davison after the young ace “punched himself out” against Filip Hrgovic.

Itauma (14-1, 12 KOs) was in complete control of their clash for the vacant IBF heavyweight title Saturday night in London. He peppered Hrgovic with heavy shots throughout the first half of the fight.

But the Croatian somehow stood firm before forcing a ninth-round stoppage. Itauma, who was taken straight to a hospital, was completely exhausted by the time referee Howard Foster stepped in.

Now, with the dust still settling on a frantic night at O2 Arena, the 21-year-old Itauma’s promoter is planning to meet with him and his team to discuss the management of the fight.

“We will have a chat,” Warren said. “There’s certain things that I’ve seen in the fight and seen on the night that obviously have got to be dealt with. You have to manage a fight, but all he’s done is get in the ring, put his foot down on the accelerator, push it into overdrive and never take it off.

“He never went back to the jab, moved around, just took it easy. He could have calmed down. If he’d have just boxed – what was he, eight rounds up on all the cards? All he had to do was box. He just got behind his jab. He’s got the speed and the pace, he could have done that, but everything was just as it was.

“I’ve got my views, and when I sit down with them, I’ll tell him where I’m at and what I expect to happen. I think [Davison] will learn from it. I’ve spoken to him quite a few times, I think he’ll learn from it.”

Davison has been heavily criticized for his role in the defeat, with the youngster’s conditioning particularly questioned. Before the fight, Itauma had suggested to talkSPORT that he had never completed a 12-round spar during training, although that claim has since been refuted.

Even so, the head trainer has come under the spotlight, with some suggesting that Itauma should even leave Davison, the man he credits with reinstalling his own love for boxing.

When asked whether he thinks Davison is the man to take Itauma forward, Warren said, “I don’t even want to go there. It’s not fair on him or anybody until we all sit down. There also wasn’t a lot of corner feedback, so I want to find out what’s going on there.”

Any meeting is still a few weeks away, with Warren keen for Itauma to rest up and take his mind off boxing after such a high-profile first defeat.

On Sunday, Itauma, The Ring’s No. 8-rated contender for Oleksandr Usyk’s crown, uploaded a video to social media insisting he will learn from the loss to Hrgovic as he presses on with his career.

“I don’t know when he will be back yet,” Warren said. “I’ve told them to go away, not to talk about it, not to think about it. That’s what he’ll do. When he comes back, we’ll get them all together, sit them down, and we’ll have a really good chat about everything and what needs to be happening going forward.

“He showed he’s got a big heart. He answered a lot of questions on Saturday, and he showed what he needs to work on. I think it’s about the management of a fight. ‘I’m in a 12-round fight. Do you see what it says on the top of the program? It’s a 12-rounder. That's what I'm trained for.’ ”

“But he was determined to stop Hrgovic. His brother was sitting next to me. He said that Moses won’t feel like he’s won the title unless he knocks him out. I said, ‘What a load of bollocks that is.’ You win the title by having your hand put up. That’s what it’s all about.”

Warren also revealed he never wanted Itauma, who had not been beyond six rounds as a professional, to face Hrgovic (21-1, 16 KOs), The Ring’s new No. 4 contender. But he also explained why a part of him is “pleased” by what happened on an unforgettable night in London.

“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 said that was the opponent they wanted and that he’s perfect in every way. But if he had gone and knocked him out in the eighth round, then everyone would have been 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 that.

“He showed tremendous heart and courage. And he showed that he can take a shot. He showed plenty of heart, too, but it was the fact that he just punched himself out. “I think there are a lot of positives. If he’d have swallowed, if he’d have given up or dropped his hands or taken a knee or something like that, I would have had some doubts. But we know what he’s got to do and he knows what he’s got to do. We’ve had a lot of conversations about what's got to happen to make him the complete package.”