Filip Hrgovic overcomes the might of Moses to claim the vacant IBF Heavyweight title.

Last night at the O2 in London, British heavyweight knockout artist Moses Itauma learned a valuable lesson in what was heralded as his coming out party, aiming to be the youngest British National to win a portion of the heavyweight crown when he took on Croatian Filip Hrgovic for the vacant IBF portion. Moses 14-0 (12 Ko’s) had never previously been past the 6th round and started fast in his explosive challenge, outworking the comparably pedestrian Hrgovic 20-1 (16 Ko’s) with fast clusters of shots, changing levels in quick bursts. Hrgovic overcame the early onslaught and stuck fast to his gameplan of high guard and solid fundamentals, often reaching in from long range. Itauma struck first blood in the second as he scored a flash knockdown, forcing the Croat to adopt a more safety first approach. Itauma continued his relentless attacks through the middle rounds but struggled to catch the steely chinned Hrgovic cleanly, often overreaching and falling in aggressively. At the conclusion of the 6th the 21 year old returned to his corner visibly fatigued from his constant fast twitch efforts, whilst the stoic Croat held his poker faced composure despite sustaining a cut over his right eye and bruising to his left cheek. Itauma appeared to slow in the 7th leaving Hrgovic chance to close the distance, methodically landing the right hand over the jab, which was previously being thrown from too far out. Itauma did continue to land in short bursts, but still failed to put a dent in the teak tough import. At the start of the 8th it was noticeable that Itauma was becoming frustrated in not having finished the job and consequently appeared to lose his shape, swinging wildly and gulping for air. Hrgovic now found apt opportunity to turn the screw and capitalise on the youngsters vulnerability, something that nobody had anticipated. Hrgovic a rank outsider at 7-1 was now dictating the pace, walking forward and landing deliberately placed right hands whilst physically manhandling the inexperienced Itauma, who looked despondent and completely demoralised at the bell to end the session. Itauma entered the 9th round with what appeared to be his final stanza, swinging for the fences whilst the vastly experienced and composed  Hrgovic moved forward with much more intent, pressuring and manhandling Itauma whilst gradually chipping away with hard and accurate right hands and left hooks, with a full minute left in the round Itauma tottered on his feet and gulped for air as the now animated  Hrgovic moved in for the kill, pinning the outgunned and exhausted youngster against the ropes, using experience and guile to overpower the fragile Itauma with brutal chopping punches. Referee Howard Foster separated the two briefly yet the powerless Itauma was unable to move his body away from the ropes allowing the triumphant Hrgovic to land a final series of valuable punches that forced Foster to wave the fight off at a simultaneous moment that Ben Davison hurled the towel into the ring over his collapsed fighter. Hrgovic grasping the IBF championship with 33 seconds left in the 9th. Filip showed great patience and persistence to overcome the high octane early onslaught and push Itauma into vastly deep waters, the unknown territory that was supposed to have offered us answers as to Moses’ resolve.  Hrgovic praised his trainer Abel Sanchez with the credit alongside his faith in Jesus Christ following the victory, he also dedicated the win to his late father and young daughter, stating, she can walk proudly now with her daddy as the heavyweight champion of the world. Itauma, who appeared completely exhausted at the conclusion of the fight remained on his stool for several minutes and after being helped to his feet to briefly was taken from ringside on a stretcher as a precaution. For the past few years, the division had been dominated largely by Oleksandr Usyk, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua..  Yet today we can boast a whole fresh new set of alphabet champions that may shake up the heavyweight landscape. Agit Kabayel is the WBC holder, Filip Hrgovic is now the IBF holder, Murat Gassiev is the WBA holder and Britains Daniel Dubois remains the current WBO holder. Unfortunately the 21 year old Itauma found himself exhausted and out of his depth, deep into a fight against an opponent who didn’t succumb to his power, the Chatham heavyweight has time on his side to come again however the  mental damage from this landmark defeat may leave long lasting scars which could prove challenging to overcome.