Moses Itauma: what’s next?

[tony1234]

Won't be back until next year ?
That's the problem. A novice runs out of gas against a punchbag. That's all that happened.
And it takes 4 to 5 months minimum before he can fight again?

Needs to be back fighting often, I think that was part of the problem , if he fought more often he'd build up stamina and durability

[Ruthless-RKO]

Itauma confident of second chance at world title

British heavyweight boxer Moses Itauma says he is sure he will get another chance to become a world champion.

The 21-year-old lost his first world title fight to croatian Filip Hrgovic in August, missing the chance to become the youngest heavyweight world champion since Mike Tyson in 1986.

Itauma had previously won all 14 of his professional fights, 12 by stoppage, establishing himself as one of the division's most exciting young prospects.

Speaking to BBC South East and Radio Kent in his first interview since the defeat, the Chatham fighter was choosing to see the positives from the experience.

"I always say I'd rather be third than second because if you're third you know you couldn't be number one," he said.

"When you're second you know you could have been number one. So that's exactly how I feel. I'm just gutted.

"Nevertheless, I'm 21. I'm 15 fights in. Of course I'm going to have my opportunity again."

The experienced Hrgovic, 34, won Olympic bronze in 2016 and went into the bout with a record of 20 wins and one defeat, with 15 victories inside the distance.

Itauma still managed to control most of the fight and scored a second-round knockdown, but faded as his relentless output caught up with him.

Hrgovic described Itauma as "really good, special, very fast" and the most "talented kid" he had ever fought.

"It was big shock for him, big humiliation, so maybe it's end of his career if he's not mentally tough. If he recovers from this loss, mentally, it will be hard for anyone to ever beat him again," Hrgovic added.

Itauma expects the experience will only make him stronger.

"It taught me a lot. I walked away from the fight knowing there was something I learnt there that I couldn't get from sparring, reading books or what the coach would be able to tell me," he said.

"What happened there I had to see for myself. I'll be back." Itauma was born in Slovakia to a Slovakian mother and Nigerian father before he and his brothers suffered racial abuse and the family moved to Kent.

He says he is proud of his Chatham upbringing and the support the people have given him in the pursuit of his boxing dreams.

"I remember after the fight I went to the gym, and this guy was so starstruck to see me. He said 'I walked the same road that you walked, I went to the same school that you did'," said Itauma.

"The only difference between us is I put one or two hours aside to focus on my boxing. He did say he's coming to my next fight, and I thanked him. I really appreciate it."

The fighter said he was "100%" confident his next title challenge would be in 2027.

"My identity as a boxer is still deeply rooted in me. A loss is not going to change that," he said.

"I lost a boxing fight, that's it. Even though I didn't get the W, I'm proud of my performance for what I was, and I enjoyed it.

"Life is about adrenaline, pressure, high expectations."

[Ruthless-RKO]

Moses Itauma to make comeback in January after Filip Hrgovic defeat

Moses Itauma will return to the ring in January in time to launch his bid to become king of the heavyweight division by the end of 2027.

Queensberry Promotions boss allegedly has revealed that Itauma will make his comeback against a well-known fighter as he looks to rebuild after suffering the first defeat of his career against Filip Hrgovic in August.

The explosive 21-year-old dominated the first half of the bout only to run out of steam, enabling Hrgovic to force a ninth-round stoppage and claim the vacant IBF world title.

Warren is plotting a series of fights for next year involving the likes of Daniel Dubois, Fabio Wardley, Hrgovic and Agit Kabayel that will determine who is the number one heavyweight -- and he wants Itauma to be involved.

"Moses will be back in January, if not before, but January's looking like the date," Warren said.

"He wanted a rematch with Filip which couldn't be done because Filip's got Frank Sanchez, who had agreed to step aside.

"I would like Moses to be in with a name to start with. I want to get that done so he can focus on doing what he wants to do -- win a world title.

"We want to get him out as soon as possible because he wants to get back in the mix and be part of what's happening next year.

"We're going to have the most unbelievable roster of heavyweight fights that leads to somebody holding the four belts by the end of next year.

"There are no problems making the matches with any of these guys because they all want to hold the four belts. These fights will happen."

Dubois and Wardley clash at The O2 Arena on Saturday in a replay of their first encounter in May, a fight of the year contender that lasted 11 bloody rounds.

Wardley was saved by referee Howard Foster as Dubois seized his WBO title, which he is the favourite to defend when they meet again.

There is no rematch clause in the contract but should Wardley produce an upset, Warren is certain there will be a decider.

"Both are in their prime," Warren said. "It was a great first fight and doing it again just a few months later is very unusual.

"Everyone is expecting another unbelievable battle between the two of them. And one thing's for sure, it's not going the distance."

[TheLeprechaun]

Itauma sounds good in his recent interviews. He's still not mature enough to get away from Ben Davison though which does make me question things. I would feel more comfortable if he went to a legit trainer. Otherwise it looks like he's the one calling the shots with Ben Davison there as a hanger on type of trainer. We will have to judge it by the body he comes in with, he has looked pudgy in fights because he does what he wants in terms of training.

[coneye]

Itauma sounds good in his recent interviews. He's still not mature enough to get away from Ben Davison though which does make me question things. I would feel more comfortable if he went to a legit trainer. Otherwise it looks like he's the one calling the shots with Ben Davison there as a hanger on type of trainer. We will have to judge it by the body he comes in with, he has looked pudgy in fights because he does what he wants in terms of training.

Agreed ,, Not everyone can have the body of Adonis , but he could and should be more ripped than he is , i suspect , he tells the coaches what he's doing ,, Big mistake they have made , is bumming him up too soon , he should off been kept out the papers till he got more fights , under his belt , all the publicity just made him hard to match and stopped his growth , something i'm suprised Frank done so soon to be honest
next fight we all know its gonna be a knock off job , someone willing to get ko,ed for a couple of grand ,, So why does he need 5 months off , with back to the road sweeper level he should be out every 3 months , he needs to learn to pace himself in there , get some rnds under the belt ,

[gilgamesh]

Itauma sounds good in his recent interviews. He's still not mature enough to get away from Ben Davison though which does make me question things. I would feel more comfortable if he went to a legit trainer. Otherwise it looks like he's the one calling the shots with Ben Davison there as a hanger on type of trainer. We will have to judge it by the body he comes in with, he has looked pudgy in fights because he does what he wants in terms of training.

Agreed ,, Not everyone can have the body of Adonis , but he could and should be more ripped than he is , i suspect , he tells the coaches what he's doing ,, Big mistake they have made , is bumming him up too soon , he should off been kept out the papers till he got more fights , under his belt , all the publicity just made him hard to match and stopped his growth , something i'm suprised Frank done so soon to be honest
next fight we all know its gonna be a knock off job , someone willing to get ko,ed for a couple of grand ,, So why does he need 5 months off , with back to the road sweeper level he should be out every 3 months , he needs to learn to pace himself in there , get some rnds under the belt ,

If you're gonna be fighting stiffs that'll go in 1 or 2 rounds. You can fight one of those every month.

Fighters don't fight these days and wonder why they never improve. You don't get better at something that you don't do.

[Eolaithe]

So why does he need 5 months off , with back to the road sweeper level he should be out every 3 months ,

I’m assuming that Itauma was obliged to serve a 45-day BBBofC suspension, including a “no gym” rule, because he suffered a stoppage loss and was so fatigued that he had to be stretchered out of the ring.

I suspect he was only allowed to resume training a few days ago. At a minimum, he’ll need an eight-week training camp to be ready to fight again.

From a traditional perspective, December isn’t a good month to stage boxing events.

Itauma has headlined a few PPVs, and most fans can’t afford to buy more than one expensive pay-per-view shortly before Christmas, would inevitably prefer to spend their money watching the Joshua–Fury bout rather than pay to watch Moses compete in a confidence-building mismatch.

[gilgamesh]

So why does he need 5 months off , with back to the road sweeper level he should be out every 3 months ,

I’m assuming that Itauma was obliged to serve a 45-day BBBofC suspension, including a “no gym” rule, because he suffered a stoppage loss and was so fatigued that he had to be stretchered out of the ring.

I suspect he was only allowed to resume training a few days ago. At a minimum, he’ll need an eight-week training camp to be ready to fight again.

From a traditional perspective, December isn’t a good month to stage boxing events.

Itauma has headlined a few PPVs, and most fans can’t afford to buy more than one expensive pay-per-view shortly before Christmas, would inevitably prefer to spend their money watching the Joshua–Fury bout rather than pay to watch Moses compete in a confidence-building mismatch.

Itauma's next 5 fights minimum aren't PPV's. They can't be.

Hey everybody. Plunk down your hard earned dollars to see the man that beats himself isn't an easy sell.

[SeanBrennan]

Still so young just rebuild him away from PPV and go get rounds and experience

[golden_labrador]

Still so young just rebuild him away from PPV and go get rounds and experience

he's still not passed the gatekeeper. put him in with Chisora

[SeanBrennan]

Still so young just rebuild him away from PPV and go get rounds and experience

he's still not passed the gatekeeper. put him in with Chisora

Please not more Dereck

[Ruthless-RKO]

Still so young just rebuild him away from PPV and go get rounds and experience

he's still not passed the gatekeeper. put him in with Chisora

Please not more Dereck

Yeh.
No more del man.

I’d rather clap with shit in my hands.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Itauma opens up on Hrgovic loss in first interview since fight

Moses Itauma admits he is struggling to accept his shock defeat to Filip Hrgovic on August 29.

The 21-year-old was heavily tipped to beat Croatia’s Hrgovic at London's O2 Arena and looked well on course for victory after bossing the first eight rounds.

But Hrgovic (21-1, 16 KOs) somehow withstood wave after wave of heavy punishment before turning the tide and stopping an exhausted Itauma (14-1, 12 KOs) in the ninth.

Given he won all 24 amateur outings and his first 14 as a pro, it was the first fight Itauma had ever lost in his life.

The southpaw has kept a low profile since that night but he resurfaced this week at the launch of his brother Karol’s new Kent gym Club Eight. During an interview with The Ring’s Louis Hart, he opened up on the experience.

“Even now I’m still trying to accept the fact that I lost,” he said.

“My take after the fight was from the experience and preparation I had and what I knew, tried my best and fell short to the more experienced man. So what do you want me to do? I gave it my all and didn't win that night. We go back to the drawing board, we assess it and we move on.

“To be honest, every year my life has changed dramatically. And this year it just took another dramatic turn. Not only was Hrgovic my only loss but it was the third ever round I’ve lost in my whole career and I did it at the age of 21 fighting for the heavyweight championship of the world.”

Itauma was 8-0 up on two cards and 7-1 up on the other at the time of the stoppage, when he capitulated in the final minute of the ninth. Although he never touched down, referee Howard Foster stepped in with the youngster seemingly unable to stand. He later received oxygen and was eventually wheeled out of the arena on a stretcher.

Itauma said: “When I caught him with my best shot and he kept coming forward I didn’t feel any type of way about it. I just thought that if he’s going to take my best shot, I’ll try again. We kept trying until my body kinda gave up on me. That was it.

“I watched it back two or three times. I just get annoyed every time I watch it. The best way to describe it is that I’m gutted. I’ll always say I’d rather be third than second because in third you know you couldn’t have won but when you’re second you knew that it was there for you. That’s what I’m going through right now.

“I shoulda, woulda, coulda been first but I’m 21, 16 fights in and I’m very much coming into the mid stage of my career and I’ve fought for a world title already. Hopefully in the mid and back end of my career obviously I’ll pick up a world title and other things.”

In the aftermath of the fight, head coach Ben Davison received a lot of criticism regarding Itauma’s conditioning and fight management. A video of the heavyweight suggesting he had never done 12 rounds of sparring in camp went viral the morning after the fight which only intensified the heat.

But Itauma insists his relationship with Davison and team analyst Lee Wylie is fireproof.

“Me, Ben, Lee have a good relationship, a coach-boxer relationship, so any backlash that’s coming our way doesn’t really matter as long as we have that good coach-boxer relationship,” he said. “Let the people keep talking.

“After what happened in that fight, whatever I say is going to sound like an excuse. All I’ve got to say is that I take full responsibility for that fight. Will it be the making of me? We will see. It just sounds too cliche.”

[golden_labrador]

Still so young just rebuild him away from PPV and go get rounds and experience

he's still not passed the gatekeeper. put him in with Chisora

Please not more Dereck

and yet he's apparently fighting for a belt in December. boxing is strange

[SeanBrennan]

he's still not passed the gatekeeper. put him in with Chisora

Please not more Dereck

and yet he's apparently fighting for a belt in December. boxing is strange

And Rico is now ranked too, strange indeed

[golden_labrador]

Please not more Dereck

and yet he's apparently fighting for a belt in December. boxing is strange

And Rico is now ranked too, strange indeed

would definitely be interesting to see what Rico can do next. throw him in with Hrg at some point next year