The heavyweight division got flipped on its head Saturday night in London. Filip Hrgovic, written off by nearly everyone as a stepping stone for the sport’s next big thing, stopped Moses Itauma in the ninth round to capture the vacant IBF heavyweight title at The O2 Arena. The official time was 2:27.
For seven rounds, the fight played out exactly as the oddsmakers expected. Itauma, the 21 year old southpaw who had blitzed through Dillian Whyte and Jermaine Franklin, controlled the action with speed and combinations. He put Hrgovic on the canvas in the second round and appeared to be pulling away on the cards.
Then the fight changed. Itauma hurt Hrgovic in the seventh and emptied everything trying to get him out of there. Hrgovic would not go. The Croatian, who came in as roughly a 5-1 underdog, absorbed the punishment and watched the young man in front of him fade. By the ninth, Itauma had nothing left. Hrgovic pressed forward, dropped him, and the referee waved it off as Ben Davison’s towel came flying in at the same moment.
It was the oldest lesson in boxing, taught again. Talent gets you to the fight. Conditioning, experience, and a chin get you through it. Itauma had never been past a handful of rounds against live opposition, and when the knockout did not come, he had no plan B and no gas tank to execute one anyway.
Hrgovic improves to 21-1 with 16 knockouts and becomes the first heavyweight world champion in Croatian history. His only career loss came against Daniel Dubois on cuts in 2024, and he has since rebuilt with wins over Joe Joyce, David Adeleye, and Dave Allen before Saturday’s career defining performance. The belt he claimed is the one Oleksandr Usyk vacated in June.
Itauma falls to 14-1. At 21, his future remains bright, and comparisons to a young fighter learning a hard lesson early rather than a hype job exposed are probably the fair read. But the mystique is gone, and the second youngest champion in heavyweight history talk is over. He will have to earn his way back the long way.
On the undercard, Sam Noakes handled former WBO lightweight champion Denys Berinchyk by wide unanimous decision, sweeping the cards 100-90, 99-91, and 98-92 to claim the vacant WBO International lightweight title.
