Moses Itauma has spoken for the first time since being rushed to hospital after his defeat to Filip Hrgovic, insisting the loss will not define him.
Itauma, 21, had been in control of his heavyweight world title bout against the Croatian on Saturday night. However, he faded in the ninth round and Hrgovic, 34, capitalised to stop his young opponent. Itauma was carried out of the ring on a stretcher and rushed to hospital before being discharged to recuperate with his family.
Itauma vows to come back
He vowed to mount a comeback following the first defeat of his professional career. He said: "So yesterday wasn't my night. We attempted greatness, and we just fell short to the more experienced man.
"I want to say congratulations to Filip Hrgovic on his win, and although I never reached my desired outcome, I believe I gained experience that I'll take to my future fights.
"I want to thank the fans in and outside the arena. You guys made it a little bit more special and a little bit more electrifying than I expected. It was a f***ing good fight, and I want to thank Queensberry and DAZN for putting this show on. So, God bless, take care, and I'll be back."
How the fight unfolded
Itauma had looked outstanding, utilising his hand speed and movement to dominate the toughest challenge of his 15-fight career, before beginning to exchange blows in the eighth and ninth rounds, ultimately leaving him stumbling around the ring in exhaustion.
It marked the first occasion that Itauma had fought past the sixth round, and interviews last week disclosed he had not sparred a complete 12 rounds – the scheduled duration of the contest – during training.
Despite his courage, he had been outmanoeuvred by the shrewd and teak-tough Hrgovic, who utilised his experience by pulling the fight into deeper territory after weathering the early assault.
Warren's reaction
Promoter Frank Warren was reluctant to confirm that Itauma will return after the excitement surrounding Britain's most thrilling prospect collapsed dramatically, and believes he requires a strategic overhaul if he is to reach the summit.
"It's too early to be making those decisions, you want to talk to him first and he will have to want to do it, which I'm sure he will," Queensberry Promotions boss Warren said.
"You find out the calibre of a guy. It's all about the mindset and where they're at. You should learn from something like this and I'm sure he will. That aura of invincibility, at the moment, is gone. People will look at that and maybe it will make it easier to make fights for him.
"Mentally, he's going to be completely down. We're going to have to talk to him and lift him and see what he's like. It's going to take some time. He's still one of the most unbelievable talents I've ever been involved with. We'll stick with him. He needs a bit more ring craft and needs to stop thinking about knocking everyone out.
"Somebody was saying to me this evening (Saturday) that Moses won't feel he's won the world title properly unless he's knocked him out and I didn't like hearing that."
Hrgovic's view
Hrgovic's sole defeat came when challenging fellow Briton Daniel Dubois for the IBF world title in 2024 and as Croatia's first heavyweight world champion, he is keen for his maiden defence to take place on home soil.
The 2016 Olympic bronze medal winner's granite chin and indomitable spirit made the greatest triumph of his career possible and while he had scoffed at comparisons between Itauma and Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali, he is still tipping his rookie rival for great things.
"Moses is an amazing talent and I believe he will be a world champion for sure," Hrgovic said. "But he needs more time. My advice is to not give up. I've never been in the ring with someone like him, but he's inexperienced. He was winning all the rounds but went toe-to-toe with me in round nine. It was a stupid move by him, it was very stupid. It was inexperience.
"He needs to pace himself and adjust to professional boxing. You can't box like an amateur, it's a 12-round fight so you need to pace yourself. It's a marathon, not a sprint."
