Moses Itauma faces Filip Hrgovic in London this evening, aiming to become boxing’s youngest world heavyweight champion since Mike Tyson. The British southpaw competes for the IBF title at the O2 Arena, a belt vacated when Oleksandr Usyk relinquished all his titles earlier this summer ahead of a “last dance”.
History in the making
Victory would see Chatham’s Itauma, who turns 22 in December, become the second current British heavyweight champion and the youngest ever. Daniel Dubois reclaimed the WBO belt with a late knockout of Fabio Wardley in May. Itauma would be the second-youngest title-holder in the division’s history and the youngest since a 20-year-old Tyson dethroned WBC champion Trevor Berbick in Las Vegas in November 1986.
Cuba’s Frank Sanchez had been first in line for the IBF belt after knocking out Richard Torres Jr on the undercard of Usyk vs Rico Verhoeven in Egypt in May, but accepted a lucrative offer to step aside. He is now in line to face the winner of Itauma vs Hrgovic.
Fight record and head to head
Itauma has won all 14 of his professional bouts since turning pro in 2023, with 12 knockouts. He knocked out Dillian Whyte in the first round in Riyadh last summer, then stopped Jermaine Franklin in the fifth round in Manchester in March.
Hrgovic has lost only one of his 21 pro fights, an eighth-round stoppage by Dubois on the Queensberry vs Matchroom 5v5 card in Riyadh in 2024. That contest was for the interim IBF title, with Dubois later upgraded after Usyk relinquished the belt. The Croatian, an Olympic bronze medallist in Rio in 2016, has 15 knockouts from 20 wins, including against Dave Allen in Doncaster in May. He has also outpointed Joe Joyce and David Adeleye since the Dubois loss, despite repeated cuts.
Date, time and how to watch
The fight takes place on Saturday August 29, 2026 at the O2 Arena in London. Ring walks are expected around 10.30pm BST (5.30pm ET, 2.30pm PT). The main card starts at 7pm BST, with earlier undercard bouts in the afternoon.
The event is available live and exclusively in the UK via DAZN pay-per-view and DAZN Ultimate, costing £24.99, with an eight-day free trial of DAZN included. Purchasers can watch on the DAZN website and app.
Undercard, prediction and odds
The undercard features Sam Noakes vs Denys Berinchyk, Nelson Hysa vs Thomas Narmo, Constantin Ursu vs Ben Vaughan, Guido Vianello vs Moses Jolly, Aloys Junior vs Sherif Musah, Tony Curtis vs Imad Naseeb, Abnor Jashari vs Numan Hussain, Frankie Wood vs Callum Lee, Sam King vs Jack Swallow, Zayn Ahmed vs Liam Fitzmaurice, and Hassan Ishaq vs Enzo Bahiano Munoz.
Hrgovic is the best opponent on paper Itauma has faced, a skilful operator who can flatter to deceive. The prediction is Itauma to win by knockout. At Friday’s weigh-in at Old Spitalfields Market, Itauma shoved Hrgovic off stage, and Hrgovic responded with a slap. Itauma weighed 241.7lbs, Hrgovic 236.2lbs. Odds: Itauma 1/10, Hrgovic 6/1, draw 33/1, Itauma on points 9/2, Itauma by KO/TKO/DQ 3/10, Hrgovic on points 14/1, Hrgovic by KO/TKO/DQ 17/2.
