Filip Hrgovic’s ninth-round stoppage of Moses Itauma changed the heavyweight title picture at The O2 in London. Hrgovic survived an early knockdown, stayed in front of the 21-year-old southpaw, and won the vacant IBF heavyweight title after trainer Abel Sanchez’s pressure plan took effect.
Sanchez said the team respected Itauma’s speed and explosive power. The calculation was that Hrgovic’s experience and durability could take the fight beyond the early rounds where Itauma had been most dangerous.
Watch Sanchez’s complete post-fight interview below.
Sanchez Says Hrgovic’s Presence Was The Plan
Sanchez explained that Hrgovic did not need to match Itauma’s early output. He needed to remain in front of him and make the younger heavyweight keep working without receiving the usual reaction to his best punches.
“Well, listen, in camp we knew, in watching Moses and following his career like we have to, that he was an exceptional fighter: exceptional hand speed, exceptional power, explosive power. We knew that he would have fast hands. It was just a matter of working against the immaturity of him. We knew the first four or five rounds were going to be difficult, of course. But them taking on an experienced guy like Filip obviously put them in a mistake. He could have beaten a lot of top-10 heavyweights that weren’t as durable as Filip, because he hit Filip with some great, great shots and never really hurt him. But Filip’s presence just there tired him out. That was the plan, just to be present, just to be there. That doesn’t mean throwing punches. I didn’t want him necessarily to be throwing punches. I just wanted him to be there and work on his mind like he has been the whole week that we’ve been here. Eventually, we knew that he was going to tire. He had to tire out.”
Sanchez then connected Itauma’s limited professional rounds to the uncertainty that appeared once the fight moved beyond the middle rounds.
“Him fighting the type of fights that he had getting to the point where he fought us, the only real fighter that he fought was that guy at the end of his career in Jermaine Franklin. Everybody else was really easy fights for him, and he did what he was supposed to do. So that inexperience right there of getting rounds—rounds are very important at this stage. He had 31 professional rounds, I think he had, or something like that. So if you don’t have the rounds, you’re not going to have the stamina and the presence of mind to be able to go past the fifth or past the sixth round with everything still intact. You’re doubting yourself. I said it in a couple interviews before: he’s going to have to answer some questions that he doesn’t have answers for yet. He’s never been asked those questions. Sure enough, starting in about the sixth, [Hrgovic] started getting him with straight right hands. By the late sixth, early seventh, you could see his legs starting to wobble a little bit, and then we knew it was just a matter of time.”
Hrgovic’s Persistence Created Mental And Physical Fatigue
Itauma spent energy trying to force an early finish, while Hrgovic recovered from the knockdown and continued pressing forward. Sanchez said that persistence was designed to create doubt even when Hrgovic was not landing in volume.
“I wasn’t surprised because that’s his style. He’s actually using a lot of energy, more energy than he needs to against a guy that he’s not going to knock out. So when you’re using that kind of energy, you’re going to gas out. Just a matter of time. The knockdown was—he got caught with the left hand, but he went down and there was nothing wrong with him. He went right back at him. It was just a matter of being present. It was very important to be present. As Ben and I were saying in the corner, just make sure that you’re first. Throw a jab, throw something, just set him off, because after the fifth or sixth round he’s going to start to wear out. He’s going to start to doubt himself mentally, not because he’s getting hit so much, but because this guy just doesn’t go away. He’s right there. He’s persistent, persistent, persistent. That is just as much mental fatigue as the physical part of it.”
The result followed a heated fight week in which Itauma shoved Hrgovic from the stage before their weigh-in confrontation. Sanchez did not dismiss Itauma after the first defeat of his professional career. He described him as a major talent who had simply met the wrong opponent too early.
“I’m terribly sorry to disappoint all the experts, but of course he can [come back]. He’s a great talent. He’s a great talent. Ben’s a good coach. He just has to go back to the training center and figure out what went wrong, and Ben’s smart enough to know what went wrong. It’s just a little too soon for him, a little too soon for an animal like this. He could have beaten a lot of top-10 heavyweights, but just not this one.”
Sanchez Leaves The Next IBF Decision To Hrgovic’s Team
Sanchez did not confirm an immediate rematch or Hrgovic’s next defense. He referred to Frank Sanchez stepping aside and said the business decision would be handled before the team returns to camp.
“You know, I don’t know. I know that Frank Sanchez stepped aside, but that’s something that Keith and Frank will have to talk about. When they decide and they tell us when we’re fighting again, we’ll go back to camp and we’ll start training again.”
Hrgovic had entered the bout as the experienced obstacle in Itauma’s vacant IBF title assignment. He left as Croatia’s first world heavyweight champion, while Itauma left with his first professional defeat and a clear picture of the late-round demands Sanchez believed had not yet been tested.
The title bout also arrived amid criticism of the pay-per-view placement for Itauma vs. Hrgovic. The upset made the sporting stakes unmistakable: Hrgovic owns the IBF belt, and Itauma now has to rebuild after the first loss of his career.
