RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Despite being a massive underdog and appearing to lose every round of his second chance at a world title, Filip Hrgovic can finally claim a full championship. Hrgovic scored a ninth-round TKO of highly touted prospect and top contender Moses Itauma in London on Saturday to earn the vacant IBF title.
Hrgovic, who entered the fight around a +500 underdog, struggled with the speed of the 21-year-old Itauma throughout much of the fight. Itauma hit him with every thing he could think of and scored a second-round knockdown that seemed to set the tone for the rest of the night.
But Hrgovic never quit on himself. The Croatian stayed in, despite the heavy fire coming at him, and continued to march forward. By the end of eight rounds, Itauma was clearly out of gas and struggled to generate anything offensively. That's when Hrgovic pounced on his weakened prey. Hrgovic took the opportunity to start pummeling Itauma with heavy shots that rattled the young fighter.
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"Let me ask my young friend something: is chin important?" Hrgovic said. "Chin is important. Look, he's an amazing fighter. I want to thank him for accepting this fight, for giving me chance to become a new superstar in heavyweight division. I'm the present and he's definitely the future. He's amazing fighter, he's one of a kind. He's the best I've been in the ring with, but he needs more experience. He gassed out. I felt the pace of the fight. I knew I was losing rounds but I knew that I have that pace in my favor.
"I was losing every round, I was outboxed. I don't know from where I got energy in that [ninth] round."
Soon, Hrgovic had Itauma rag-dolled against the ropes before the referee and Itauma's corner called off the action.
It's by far the biggest win of Hrgovic's career, a career that had been defined by being stalled out by Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury fighting a trilogy while Hrgovic was the mandatory for Usyk's IBF title. Hrgovic took an interim title fight against Daniel Dubois in June 2024 instead of continuing to wait it out, which he lost by late TKO.
Now, Hrgovic finally gets to call himself champion.
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