By: Sean Crose
Someone obviously forgot to give Filip Hrgovic the memo that Saturday night in London was supposed to all be about Moses Itauma, a man who several hours earlier had pushed him off a stage. Most felt that Itauma was going to win the vacant IBF heavyweight title over Hrgovic at the O2 Arena. There was of course good reason to feel that Itauma would win. He appeared the far faster puncher. He also was a knockout artist. Lastly he was many years younger than the 34-year old Hrgovic. None of it mattered in the end though when Itauma’s corner threw in the towel.
Believe it or not Hrgovic is now the IBF heavyweight champion of the world. Surprise. Although you’d be hard pressed to hear before the fight anyone say the Croatian wasn’t a decent fighter. Everyone know he was. He had only lost but once heading into the ring on Saturday and that was to Daniel Dubois, a guy who was clearly not a slouch. No it wasn’t that Hrgovic looked bad to people. He just didn’t look nearly as good as Itauma did. Again it was far from foolish to predict Itauma would win Saturday’s fight.
The man simply didn’t do that however. Most would argue he came quite close to winning but close, as everyone knows, is just that – close. Ituama may have had the skills to pull out the victory but, as it’s being said hours afterward, he may have been lacking the most effective tool that might have granted him a win. And that tool was experience. Hrgove had simply been around the figurative block too many times for him to get out generaled by Ituama and his team. Although he was compared to a young Mike Tyson before the fight, during the fight Ituama looked more like George Foreman in Zaire, a man thoroughly gassing himself.
The reality is Ituana was winning most of the fight. The knockout artist faced the man he couldn’t knock out however. What’s more, he faced a man who knew not to let himself run out of energy as the fight wore on. By the 9th round it looked like Ituama was actually mocking Hrgovic, but he wasn’t. He was simply so exhausted that he was stumbling around the ring like a vaudville drunk. His corner was right and throwing in the towel. The man was taking serious damage.
Watching the end of the fight, it’s almiost painful to see Hrgovic land those body shots. They were thudding, crushing, and a bit frightening. Once Hrgovic really started to hurt his man, the fight was all over. It really was only a matter of time before the gutsy Croatian was declared the winner. In Ituama the heavyweight division was supposed to be getting its next new star. Instead it got itself one enormous upset. Get ready to become familiar with the name Filip Hrgovic if you havent already. In fight circles, it’s now very much a name worth knowing.
Back to Tyson for a moment. He still holds the record as being the youngest heavyweight champion ever. He would have remained in possession that record even if Ituama had won. But people were speaking almost as if Ituama were indeed the next Mike Tyson. Again that’s understandable. People get excited after all and Ituama had been quite impressive. There’s only one Mike Tyson however, and nights like these remind us of how good the man really was. To win a heavyweight championship of the world at 20 is no easy task. Just ask Ituama …and Hrgovic for that matter.
