Filip Hrgovic Stops Moses Itauma in Ninth to Win IBF Heavyweight Title

Filip Hrgovic is the new IBF heavyweight world champion after one of the strangest heavyweight title fights you are likely to see.

Moses Itauma looked terrific early. He started fast, dropped Hrgovic in the second and spent round after round throwing the sort of heavy shots that would probably have finished plenty of other heavyweights. The problem was Filip Hrgovic simply kept taking them.

By the seventh, the fight was beginning to change for a completely different reason. Itauma was still ahead and still dangerous, but the 21-year-old was visibly tiring. Hrgovic’s chin, patience and willingness to keep coming forward eventually turned the fight on its head. Itauma had effectively tried to sprint a marathon.

Hrgovic stopped the exhausted Itauma in round nine to claim the vacant IBF heavyweight title, but this felt as much like a lesson in pacing and experience for Itauma as it did a defeat.

Filip Hrgovic Stops Moses Itauma in the Ninth

Itauma (14-1-0) certainly didn’t look like a fighter overawed by his first world title fight. Quite the opposite.

He went after Hrgovic (21-1-0) from the start and scored the first major breakthrough in round two, putting the Croatian down. From there Itauma continued pouring on the punches. Head, body, combinations – he was throwing everything at him.

And Hrgovic just kept coming.

That became the story of the fight. Some of the shots Hrgovic absorbed were enormous, yet there was no dramatic collapse and no point where he appeared willing to give Itauma the satisfaction of backing off. Whatever else you take from this fight, Hrgovic showed he owns one of the best chins in the heavyweight division.

The problem for Itauma was the amount of energy he was burning trying to break it.

Around the seventh round, the warning signs were there. Itauma was tiring badly. He had spent so much of the fight attacking that eventually there wasn’t much left in the tank. It was almost a heavyweight version of rope-a-dope, except Hrgovic didn’t really need the ropes – his chin did most of the work.

There was even something slightly Homer Simpson boxer episode about it: one man lands punch after punch, only to become exhausted because the other bloke somehow refuses to fall over.

By the ninth Itauma was spent. He was stopped by the ref, his corner where also on hand with the towel and Hrgovic completed a remarkable turnaround, winning by ninth-round TKO and becoming IBF heavyweight champion. Itauma was subsequently taken away on a stretcher after an exhausting night.

It was a bizarre ending considering how much of the fight Itauma had controlled, but also a reminder of something that is easily forgotten when a young heavyweight is blowing through opponents: rounds matter. Pacing matters. Experience matters.

Itauma is only 21. His record is now 14-1-0 and, if anything, this might eventually prove more useful to his development than another quick knockout would have been. The talent was obvious. This time the engine couldn’t keep up with what he was asking it to do.

Sam Noakes Outpoints Denys Berinchyk

In the co-main event, Sam Noakes (19-1-0) picked up an important win over former world champion Denys Berinchyk (19-2-0).

Noakes took the vacant WBO International lightweight title with a unanimous decision after 10 rounds. After suffering the first defeat of his career previously, beating a man with Berinchyk’s experience is exactly the sort of result Noakes needed to get himself moving in the right direction again.

Constantin Ursu Retains British and Commonwealth Titles

Constantin Ursu remains unbeaten at 16-0-0 after stopping Ben Vaughan (12-3-0) in the eighth round.

Vaughan suffered a cut over his right eye in the fifth and the contest was eventually halted on the doctor’s advice in round eight, giving Ursu the TKO victory and retaining his British and Commonwealth welterweight titles.

Nelson Hysa Stops Thomas Narmo

Nelson Hysa (25-0-0) didn’t need long against fellow unbeaten heavyweight Thomas Narmo (14-1-0).

Hysa dropped Narmo with a right hand to the head before the fight was stopped in the second round. The TKO victory keeps Hysa unbeaten and sees him retain the WBO Global heavyweight title.

Undercard Results

Guido Vianello (14-3-2) and Moses Jolly (12-0-1) couldn’t be separated after eight heavyweight rounds, with the contest ending in a points draw.

Aloys Youmbi (12-1-0) handled business against Sherif Musah (4-3-1), taking a points victory over six cruiserweight rounds.

Tony Curtis (14-1-0) handed Imad Naseeb (8-1-0) his first professional defeat, winning their super flyweight contest on points after six rounds.

Another unbeaten record disappeared when Frankie Wood (5-0-0) stopped Callum Lee (8-1-0) by TKO in the sixth and final round of their featherweight contest.

Sam King moved to 7-0-1 with a six-round points win over Jack Swallow (4-13-1) at middleweight.

At super bantamweight, Zayn Ahmed (3-0-0) stopped Liam Fitzmaurice (0-19-0) by TKO in round two.

Hassan Ishaq (4-0-0) remained unbeaten with a four-round points victory over Enzo Bahiano Munoz (4-17-4).

 

Hrgovic leaves London with the IBF belt and a 21-1-0 record. Itauma leaves with his first defeat and probably more learned in nine rounds than in his previous 14 professional fights combined. At 21, there is a hell of a lot of career still ahead of him. If he learns when not to empty the tank, this doesn’t have to be the night that defines him.

Prelims Stream