Itauma 'humiliated' but may never lose again - Hrgovic

Filip Hrgovic, the 34‑year‑old Croatian heavyweight who halted Moses Itauma in August, believes the Briton could become unbeatable if he moves past the embarrassment of his IBF title loss. Hrgovic stopped Itauma, who had entered the bout as the pre‑fight favourite, in the ninth round of their gathering at the O2 Arena. Early in the contest Itauma appeared to have the advantage, with Hrgovic touching the canvas in the second round and admitting he was “outboxed” initially. “The kid is truly good. He’s special. Very fast, precise talented and he countered whatever I tried with his velocity and timing,” said Hrgovic. He added, “I never was in the ring before with such a talented kid, with such a fast guy. You have some fast guys but they’re small heavyweights. You can handle them with your power but this kid is fast and big. He’s got big IQ and big talent.” Hrgovic confessed his frustration, stating, “I’m still kind of aggravated because he outboxed me. In my whole career, in 20 years of boxing, I was never outboxed in any sparring or any fight.” Regarding Itauma’s mindset, Hrgovic observed, “It was huge shock for him, huge humiliation, so possibly 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.” He continued, “A lot of people after that kind of loss, they never come back. So, it will be a hard road for him to come back.” Finally, Hrgovic emphasized the mental challenge ahead: “You have to go through a ruthless, hard training camp. You need to go through hell to be mentally ready for this. I think he was physically ready but it’s the mental part.”