LONDON – Tonight, at London’s O2, Moses Itauma and Filip Hrgovic contest the IBF’s vacant heavyweight title. The belt was previously worn by Oleksandr Usyk, but he has relinquished his championship hardware while retaining his status as the best fighter in the division.
Itauma-Hrgovic had already been made. It was supposed to be the next step in Itauma’s evolution, to see if he would be ready for a world title in a fight or two. The IBF, even though this fight had been made, ordered Itauma to fight Frank Sanchez for the vacant title but Queensberry, which promotes Itauma, made the phone calls and paid the money, Sanchez stepped aside – and lies in wait for the winner – and now Itauma-Hrgovic has a title attached.
It feels like a big fight in the UK. It might be big in Croatia. I’m not sure Itauma is moving the needle yet in the US, but if he wins, and wins well, the momentum will continue to grow for the 21-year-old.
Here, ahead of their bout on DAZN, are 10 questions about the fight and the future.
Why is there hype about Moses Itauma?
The list here is pretty long. We heard about him from sparring tales initially, really, of him as a 16-year-old tearing into then-world cruiserweight champion Lawrence Okolie. We’ve not heard anyone say he’s easy work, or that he’s not really bloody good.
Then you factor in the highlight reel. Itauma has fighters losing their legs, doing funny dances, and the gap in class between him and those he has faced has been staggering. As with Mike Tyson – and we will get to this – it’s not so much who he has beaten, but how he has beaten them.
Finally, Moses has come along at the perfect time. We all see Joshua-Fury now as a tiresome final cash grab. Usyk wants one more big financial bonanza. We want shiny and new. We are all ready for what comes next. And who doesn’t love a dominant heavyweight champ?
How did the Itauma hype get this big?
