Itauma knocked him out cold midway through the fifth round of their fight in March; a vicious right hand leaving Franklin crashing face-first into the canvas.<\/p>\n
All of which had left Itauma heralded as the man to fill the sizeable void that will be left when Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua take their millions and run.<\/p>\n
The fight promotion referred to him simply as \u201cMoses\u201d. His face has adorned the side of London buses. He has a Nike clothing collection in his name, and the entire build-up to Saturday\u2019s fight was framed around the invitation to \u201cwitness history\u201d. That could have been a reference to the fact victory would make Hrgovi\u0107, 34, his country\u2019s first ever heavyweight world champion, but it was more likely a nod to Itauma\u2019s opportunity to become the youngest heavyweight to win a world title since Mike Tyson.<\/p>\n
Yet, with 33 seconds remaining in the ninth round, Itauma\u2019s trainer Ben Davison threw the towel in and the air was sucked out of all that bluster. The noise around Itauma briefly silenced. As he was carried out of the ring on a stretcher, taken to hospital for checks \u2014 drained, exhausted and nursing a leg injury according to his promoter Frank Warren (he was released a few hours later and back home with his family) \u2014 the questions started.<\/p>\n
Was it simply too much too soon? Did he employ the wrong game plan? Is he even that good? Does he have what it takes to be a world champion? Can he come back from a defeat that has exposed, in the most painful way possible, the weak spots in his armour?<\/p>\n
![\"Moses](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2292623482-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Moses Itauma contemplates his defeat beside trainer Ben Davison (Richard Pelham\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Less than an hour after those dramatic scenes, Warren addressed the media in a windowless room deep in the bowels of the O2 arena and admitted it was too early to know the answer to that final question.<\/p>\n
\u201cMentally he\u2019s going to be completely down,\u201d said Warren. \u201cSo we\u2019ll have to talk to him and lift him. He\u2019ll take some time out, have a break. It\u2019s not even the time to talk about it with him. It\u2019s something we\u2019ll probably do in maybe two weeks or even a month\u2019s time, to see where we go with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 74-year-old promoter has seen this story play out before.<\/p>\n
He referenced Amir Khan\u2019s 54-second knockout at the hands of Colombian Breidis Prescott in 2008, when he too was 21 and heralded as British boxing\u2019s great hope after winning an Olympic silver medal in 2004. Less than a year later, Khan had won his first world title.<\/p>\n
Even more relevant is the experience of David Haye who, in his 11th pro fight, took on 40-year-old Carl Thompson, the former WBO champion. Haye was 23 and had a reputation for knocking out his opponents quickly, with five first-round stoppages in his 10 fights before taking on Thompson.<\/p>\n
In a similar fashion to Itauma\u2019s bout against Hrgovi\u0107, Haye started fast, dominating the early rounds with his speed and explosiveness. But Thompson dug his toes into the canvas and endured the onslaught. Haye had never been past the fourth round before and quickly began to tire, allowing Thompson to capitalise and knock him down in the fifth. Soon after, Haye\u2019s corner threw in the towel, signalling his first defeat as a professional.<\/p>\n
The Brit, who went on to unify the cruiserweight division and win a heavyweight world title, has always spoken of the defeat as a turning point in his career \u2014 one that taught him valuable lessons about pacing and overconfidence.\u00a0\u201cHe was written off completely (after that),\u201d said Warren of the Thompson defeat in the early hours of Sunday morning.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou find out the caliber of a guy, and you learn from it, and hopefully he\u2019ll learn,\u201d he added, referring to Itauma. \u201cHe will have to want to do it, which I\u2019m sure he will.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Moses](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2292622295-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Moses Itauma swings a left during his loss to Filip Hrgovi\u0107 (Richard Pelham\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
More recently, Warren has had to help Daniel Dubois rebuild after his loss to Joe Joyce in 2020 \u2014 a damaging defeat that led many to question the British heavyweight\u2019s courage and desire after he took a knee in the 10th round. It later emerged that Dubois had suffered a broken orbital bone and nerve damage around his left eye, but, for some, that didn\u2019t matter. He was labelled a \u201cquitter\u201d.<\/p>\n
Dubois rebuilt and is now a two-time heavyweight world champion. Itauma must now embark on a similar journey.<\/p>\n
The defeat will be painful, probably more emotionally than physically. But away from the heat and emotion of fight night, Itauma can take heart from the fact that, for the majority of the fight, he was the dominant man. Hrgovi\u0107 even admitted afterwards he had barely won a single round.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know he was so good,\u201d said the Croatian afterwards, the cuts and bruising above his eyes backing up his point. \u201cHonestly, I\u2019ve never been in the ring with someone like him.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Filip](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2292624072-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Filip Hrgovi\u0107 sporting the wounds of battle after his win (Richard Pelham\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
What Itauma is missing, added the new IBF world champion, is experience. \u201cI saw from the first round that he was breathing hard, throwing too hard,\u201d he said. \u201cFighting like an amateur.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the build up to the fight, Itauma questioned Hrgovi\u0107\u2019s pride at having a \u201cgood chin\u201d, suggesting the best boxers shouldn\u2019t get caught enough to need such a thing. It was, perhaps, a sign of his naivety and a result of not having had his own really tested in his 14 fights so far. In the end, it was exactly that asset that enabled the more experienced man to absorb the rapid-fire shots to the head and body that Itauma threw his way for the first six rounds.<\/p>\n
Every one that Itauma threw sapped his energy. Every one that Hrgovi\u0107 stood up to only strengthened his resolve and confidence.<\/p>\n
Itauma never stopped throwing, though. Even in the ninth round, when his arms and legs were drained and he could barely support his own weight, he was still trying to land heavy shots on his opponent. There was no hiding, no holding. While it might have aided his survival to do those things, boxing rewards and respects the courage of those fighters who never stop trying. \u201cI\u2019m sure he\u2019s a fighting man,\u201d said Warren when asked if he had concerns over whether Itauma could, or would, come back from this defeat. \u201cHe showed that right to the end.\u201d<\/p>\n
The word Warren used most often to describe what he\u2019d seen was \u201ccomposure\u201d. Itauma, he said, had lost his, and that\u2019s what had led to him injecting so much venom into every shot that his energy stores depleted so dramatically.<\/p>\n
![\"Frank](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2292625011-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Frank Warren speaks after Moses Itauma\u2019s defeat (Richard Pelham\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Arguably, Itauma lost that at the weigh-in a day earlier when he pushed Hrgovi\u0107 off the stage after an intense face-off. The usually cool youngster had clearly been riled by his opponent\u2019s words as they stood millimeters apart, and perhaps it was that feeling that carried over into fight night and contributed to his undoing.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore ringcraft\u201d is what Warren suggested Itauma needs. \u201cAnd he needs to stop thinking he\u2019s got to knock everyone out, though he\u2019s capable of doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rebuild will start as soon as Itauma is ready. At 21, he has plenty of time on his side (Dubois was 23 when he lost to Joyce). And his talent is unquestionable.\u00a0But mentality is the biggest factor now.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody\u2019s different,\u201d said Warren when asked how long it might take him to recover from such a defeat. \u201cDaniel (Dubois) was called a quitter and he showed in fights that he certainly wasn\u2019t that. It\u2019s all the mindset.\u00a0But that aura of invincibility at the moment is gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Without that \u2014 without the belief that he can send every opponent crashing to the canvas within a few rounds \u2014 Itauma must rediscover who he is as a fighter. He must find the balance between managing his energy, preserving his power, and utilising it when the time is right.<\/p>\n
The narrative when he does return will be simple: take Itauma past five rounds and he\u2019s a weakened man. Dismantling that will likely take time.<\/p>\n
In Itauma\u2019s favour is that he has now experienced being in crisis. He knows he has the courage to deal with it; the wisdom and physical attributes that can help him avoid reaching that point again will surely come.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he\u2019s still one of the most unbelievable talents that I\u2019ve ever been involved with in my time in boxing,\u201d added Warren. \u201cWe\u2019re with him and we\u2019ll stick with him.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was a night designed for Moses Itauma to shine. But in the end, it was one that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":877070,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[703,49,48,9045,82],"class_list":["post-877069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-global-sports","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=877069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/877070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=877069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=877069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=877069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}