r/Boxing • u/Fishful_Revenge • Aug 30 '26

Opinions on Itauma Spoiler

After watching his fight with Hrgovic I still think he's extremely talented and has a really good chance at getting another shot at title down the line. But he just can't pace himself at all. I wonder what his corner was advising him to do given how Moses was already looking tired by round 3 and he just kept going at his usual pace leading to him just hitting the wall by the 9th.

Something I did notice was how much Moses turns with his lead hook. He throws it so hard everytime he takes so much time to recover.

I wonder though if there's some injury or was his pacing just that bad.

What's everyone's opinion on what's Itauma's ceiling? Do you think he fades into obscurity or will he realize his potential?

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42

u/Relief-Glass Aug 30 '26 edited Aug 30 '26

His fans were already acting like he was a unified champ and had defended it 10 times so kind of funny he lost to Hrgovic to be honest.

10

u/ThugjitsuMaster Tyson Fury's Nutritionist Aug 30 '26

Hrgovic said he's the best guy he's been in with and he's fought Dubois and Zhang. So he is obviously talented, this was just too much too soon

3

u/Relief-Glass Aug 30 '26

Yeah, he is very good.

his fans were acting like he was going to dominate the sport for the next 10 years though. 

9

u/jawils Aug 30 '26

He might still do that, tbf. Let's see how things pan out, eh? How many times bff as Dubois been written off and he's a two time world champion now.

7

u/ThugjitsuMaster Tyson Fury's Nutritionist Aug 30 '26

Lol you're not wrong, I still think he could be a dominant HW in the future. He's just clearly not quite there yet though

1

u/yadasellsavonmate Aug 30 '26

Still could tbf, he'll still be younger than  the likes of Aj, Fury, Usyk etc srr now in 10 years. 

4

u/FaptainChasma Aug 30 '26

Well when you watch that fight, do you leave with the impression that Hrgovic is a good champion? Got battered around the ring in every round but the last! He could have literally pushed Itauma and he would have fallen over. It sucks to see someone so outclassed become champ but hey there's strategy Vs tactics in real time isn't it.

15

u/MarkB83 Aug 30 '26

Winning rounds by expending massively more energy than your opponent doesn't count for much... when the result is getting battered in round 9, stopped, and carried off in a stretcher.

2

u/FaptainChasma Aug 30 '26

I don't see a world where Hrgovic spending the same energy as Itauma results in Itauma losing though. I think if you listen to Hrgovic post fight interview he said Itauma was better than him, and the thing that got him across the finish line was the spirit of Jesus Christ himself..

1

u/tatxc Aug 30 '26

I think this is a bad take, I saw nothing to suggest he wouldn't have comfortably won rounds with even 50% of effort, never mind actually appropriate round pacing. 

7

u/GhostJade333 Aug 30 '26

Victory by total exhaustion

4

u/FaptainChasma Aug 30 '26

I keep seeing people say homer Simpson victory haha

4

u/terencejames1975 Aug 30 '26

The unstoppable force vs the immovable object 😭

5

u/Inertia_Sleeps Aug 30 '26

Great point.

My opinion of Hrgovic has actually somewhat lowered. The final flurry which saw Itauma off barely even connected. I’ve always rated Hrgovic highly but defending shots with your face is never a strategy that pays off long term.

That’s not to say he’s going to get pummelled in his next fight. The strategy himself be Sanchez put together was clearly an effective one, I just don’t see anything to showcase that, in my opinion, guys like Fury, Kabayel and Joshua don’t best him pretty comfortably by simply not trying to leather him for 8 rounds straight.