{"id":797083,"date":"2026-10-09T14:18:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T14:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/797083\/"},"modified":"2026-10-09T14:18:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T14:18:08","slug":"tony-bellew-sums-up-moses-itaumas-chances-of-becoming-world-champion-after-ko-loss-to-hrgovic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/797083\/","title":{"rendered":"Tony Bellew sums up Moses Itauma’s chances of becoming world champion after KO loss to Hrgovic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tony Bellew<\/a> has highlighted one of Moses Itauma<\/a>\u2019s most glaring weaknesses, which could diminish his chances of becoming a world champion.<\/p>\n

In August, the 21-year-old was attempting to become the youngest heavyweight champion since Mike Tyson, who dethroned Trevor Berbick with a second-round finish in 1986.<\/p>\n

But despite dominating most of his encounter with Filip Hrgovic, and even scoring a second-round knockdown, Itauma ultimately failed to sustain his ferocious attacks.<\/p>\n

His speed, in particular, was becoming increasingly problematic for Hrgovic, who nonetheless maintained his focus and absorbed a considerable degree of punishment.<\/p>\n

Then, as soon as Itauma began showing severe signs of fatigue, the Croatian took advantage of his opponent\u2019s loosening defence and orchestrated a ninth-round finish<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In doing so, he claimed the vacant IBF title and is now expected to face mandatory challenger Frank Sanchez, who, like Hrgovic, is a vastly experienced operator at 34 years old.<\/p>\n

Itauma, meanwhile, is set to return to action early next year<\/a>, with former world champion Bellew telling Fight Your Corner<\/a> that he believes the prodigy will still claim a major title.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a fan of Moses Itauma \u2013 I think the kid\u2019s a huge talent. He\u2019s unbelievable. But, the more I peel it back, [the more] I don\u2019t think the kid\u2019s a student of the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think he actually likes boxing \u2013 I think it\u2019s something he\u2019s good at. And that\u2019s a worry.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing I\u2019ll say is: he\u2019s shown me his heart\u2019s in the right place, because he\u2019s got big balls. He got stuck in when he was out on his feet [against Hrgovic].<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t care who trains him, I don\u2019t care what happens \u2026 he will be a champion, and he\u2019s going to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

More specifically, Bellew highlighted the combination of talent and bravery as Itauma\u2019s greatest asset, which should overrule any lack of passion for his craft.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tony Bellew has highlighted one of Moses Itauma\u2019s most glaring weaknesses, which could diminish his chances of becoming…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":797084,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-797083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=797083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/797084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=797083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=797083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=797083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}