Itauma vs Hrgovic: Heavyweight Fight of Biblical Proportions on August 29

Big stakes for the big men as Moses Itauma and Filip Hrgovic face off Monday in London to announce their August 29 fight. Photo: Queensberry Promotions
Big stakes for the big men as Moses Itauma and Filip Hrgovic face off Monday in London to announce their August 29 fight. Photo: Queensberry Promotions
by Gayle Falkenthal, Boxing Editor

The newly announced heavyweight summer showdown between Filip Hrgovic and Moses Itauma on August 29 at the O2 Arena in London is branded by Queensberry Promotions as “National Born Thriller.” As fight card titles go, not bad at all.

Neither of the big men are big talkers, but Hrgovic hit on an even better bit of positioning for this matchup.

“History said that Moses never reached the promised land, and history repeats, right?” said Hrgovic.

Although he is still just 21 years old, the undefeated Itauma of Chatham, Kent, England (14-0, 12 KOs) is generating serious consideration as a future star of the heavyweight division. That future could come quickly with a win over Hrgovic of Zagreb, Croatia (20-1, 15 KOs), the 2016 Olympic bronze medalist who has long wanted to take on opponents among the top ten heavyweights. His only loss came to Daniel Dubois two years ago.

Itauma stated his ambition to become the world’s youngest heavyweight champion by dethroning Mike Tyson. He wasn’t able to do this, but his ambitions to reach his promised land have not dimmed.

Itauma continues to pass every test put in front of him, with more observers jumping on board the Itauma hype train every fight. Six of his last ten fights have ended with first-round knockouts, including against Dillian Whyte, and three more in the second round. In his most recent fight, Itauma took out tough American Jermaine Franklin Jr., who had never been stopped in five rounds – not by prior opponents, Whyte and Anthony Joshua.

While fans would love to see Itauma take on the big names, it’s understandable Queensberry Promotions would not be in a hurry to see their rising star dimmed too early. It’s a good sign the fight with Hrgovic is now on deck to see what Itauma can do whether others have failed.

Frank Warren of Queensberry Promotions called the matchup a jeopardy fight at the announcement news conference in London on Monday.

“Neither of them needed to take this. Moses could have sat around and waited for the mandatory to be called, and Filip could be waiting to obviously get a chance to fight directly for the world title, but they wanted it. They insisted on it.”

Moses Itauma: My Toughest Test

Moses Itauma keeps it simple, saying he'll prove his ambitions in the ring on August 29. Photo: Queensberry Promotions
Moses Itauma keeps it simple, saying he’ll prove his ambitions in the ring on August 29. Photo: Queensberry Promotions

Itauma agreed. “This is a big test, of course. It’s my toughest fight. I mean, Filip Hrgovic ain’t no mug.

“I think the beautiful thing about boxing is that Hrgovic has achieved so much in this sport. He’s beat so many well-known guys in not just British boxing, but in boxing in general, and he’s won an Olympic bronze medal.

“The beautiful thing about my position is I can strip him away from all of that,” promising he would be ready on August 29.

Itauma understands people still have many questions about his ceiling in boxing. “Every fight proposes a bit of danger. Obviously, Hrgovic has proved that he can do certain things … There’s question marks on my career, so if I didn’t get to answer them question marks against Jermaine Franklin, I’m sure I’ll be able to answer them that day.”

Hrgovic, speaking in English throughout the news conference, said it’s up to him to stop Itauma’s momentum, as the biblical Moses was stopped.

“My job is to stop him (from) reaching the promised land, to become champion, to become next star,” said Hrgovic. The Croatian then politely but firmly characterized Itauma as being a bit coddled on his way up.

“He went from winning youth world championship, which I won as well, and in like 10, 14 fights, he becomes like a superstar. He didn’t sacrifice a lot for that, where he is now.

“I think my path was much harder, much, much harder. I work so hard to get into this position, and I feel like he, everything he achieved was like, given. Of course, he’s working hard; he’s training every day. But it’s not the same kind of struggle (like) what I went through.

“We’ll see on August 29. How good is he? Maybe he’s a real deal, maybe he’s not,” concluded Hrgovic.

Itauma said he understands that respect as an opponent is earned, not given. “Whether Filip respects me or not, it’s not gonna do him any favors if you don’t on fight night. Once that first punch lands, I mean, I’m sure he’ll respect me then.

“He don’t know nothing about me to comment on that,” added Itauma. “At the end of the day, the position I’m in wasn’t given to me. I still had to be and overcome challenges. So, like I said, even if he’s not going to respect me on the path, we should soon find out.”

How confident is Itauma of victory on August 29? “I feel like boxing, for me, it’s like a puzzle, and I believe with the right preparation, I don’t think that there’s a puzzle I can’t solve.”

“I don’t believe in puzzles, man,” retorted Hrgovic. “I believe in there are two men inside the ring, two warriors, and the question is, who’s got more will, more determination, more courage, more desire for (a) win? That’s how I look at boxing. I don’t believe in puzzles and strategies and tactics and game plans. So, two different approaches, we’ll see what’s going to happen.”

Hrgovic insisted he’s not bigheaded about it. “I’m just a hardworking, honest guy who just wants the truth. We’ll see the truth on August 29th.”

Naturally, managers George Warren for Itauma and Keith Connolly for Hrgovic had their say and insisted their fighter is the one with the talent and work ethic to come out the winner in London.

But once again, the man of few words made them count in a way no other speaker was able to do on Monday.

“You know what is great in boxing?” asked Hrgovic. “Boxing is probably one of the only sports in the world where everything … can fall apart when you come to the ring, when you get punched into the face.

“When you have, for example, this Greek god Anthony Joshua, like (with the) whole country behind him, and he comes in with fat Andy Ruiz, and he got knocked out. That’s only possible in boxing.”

Filip Hrogovic Has His Say

Filip Hrgovic came into Monday's announcement news conference with a chip on his shoulder. We like it. Photo: Queensberry Promotions
Filip Hrgovic came into Monday’s announcement news conference with a chip on his shoulder. We like it. Photo: Queensberry Promotions

“All the team, all the preparation, all promoters, managers, nothing is important when you come into the ring. Maybe I have a great team. I have a great manager, great coach, but maybe I’m not guided so well like Moses. From the beginning, he’s guided to become a star. I didn’t have that.

“My whole amateur career, for example, I didn’t have sparring partners. I went to world championships without sparring. My whole career, I (am) struggling. I learned the boxing business by myself. I didn’t have anyone helping me,” adding he got into the top five-ranked heavyweights through his own initiative.

“He’s training hard, probably every day, twice a day, like every athlete does. But he was given everything on the plate when I compare his path with my path, and other guys who are coming from small countries.

“But boxing is great, because nothing else matters when you enter that ring, when you start to fight. It’s only about your desire, your will, and how much you’re ready to give. Are you ready to give? Are you ready to die in that ring?

“I know I am invited here to lose,” laughed Hrgovic. “He’s a future star. Frank Warren, and Queensbury Promotions, (they’re) not gonna make so much money on me, like on Moses Itauma. That’s reality.

“It’s not tennis, it’s not basketball, it’s not football. It’s not about tactics, about how much your team is worth, how much you pay players, you know, it’s not about that. It’s about heart and desire, and I definitely have that. I have the biggest heart in the division, and I definitely have desire for win, and we’ll see on August 29 how much he has. Everything else is not important,” declared Hrgovic.

Itauma vs Hrgovic is Davison vs Sanchez

Hrgovic will now return to training camp in Big Bear, California, where he talked Abel Sanchez out of retirement after Sanchez made champions of Gennadiy Golovkin, Murat Gassiev, and before them Terry Norris.

The trainer matchup adds plenty of intrigue, as Itauma continues his rise guided by highly respected British trainer Ben Davison, who’s worked with Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua among the heavyweights. Davison has nothing but praise for his young heavyweight’s elite, generational talent and ring maturity.