Moses Itauma may never lose again if he can overcome the “humiliation” of his IBF heavyweight title defeat, according to Filip Hrgovic, who stunned the Briton in August.
The 34-year-old Croatian stopped Itauma, who entered as the strong pre-fight favourite, in the ninth round at the O2 Arena.
Early signs suggested Itauma had the measure of his opponent, with Hrgovic touching the canvas in the second round and admitting he was “outboxed” early on.
Hrgovic capitalized when Itauma tired but emphasized that the 21-year-old southpaw is so skilful he could enjoy a hugely successful career if he learns from the setback.
“He’s really good. He’s special. Very fast, very talented and he countered whatever I tried with his speed and timing,” Hrgovic said.
“I’ve never been in the ring with such a talented kid, with such a fast guy. You can handle some fast heavyweights with power, but this one is fast and big. He’s got great IQ and great talent.”
“I’m still kind of angry because he outboxed me. In my whole career, in 20 years of boxing, I was never outboxed in any sparring or any fight.”
While Hrgovic, who is chasing division unification, praised Itauma’s boxing abilities, he suggested doubts remain over his mentality.
“It was a big shock for him, a big humiliation, so maybe it’s the end of his career if he’s not mentally tough. If he recovers from this loss mentally, it will be hard for anyone to ever beat him again,” Hrgovic added.
“A lot of people after that kind of loss never come back. So it will be a hard journey for him to return.”
“You have to go through a ruthless, hard training camp. You need to go through hell to be mentally ready for this. I think he was physically ready, but it’s the mental part.”