In a ninth round that will
forever be a part of boxing lore, Moses Itauma, who had dominated Filip Hrgovic
throughout the fight, fell apart. Without even a signature blow from Hrgovic,
Itauma could no longer maintain his balance. Exhausted from throwing maximum-effort power shots round after round, he slunk to the ropes, hands downs, wobbly, defenseless. The opportunistic Hrgovic moved in to close the show. But before
he could land a conclusive shot, Itauma's corner threw in the towel, a stunning
end to what had mostly been a one-sided fight.
Itauma, 21, had rocketed up the
heavyweight ranks over the last two years, capturing the imagination of boxing
fans. Could he be the next ONE? The skills were there. He had terrific hand
speed and power, crisp counterpunching, menacing combinations, great feet, an
advanced understanding of how to use angles, and strong finishing
instincts.
And it wasn't just hype. Even as
a young fighter, the southpaw had held his own in sparring against now
heavyweight champ Daniel Dubois and former cruiserweight champ Lawrence Okolie.
I had said in a past article that he was the best heavyweight prospect that I
had seen in 20 years. And I stand by that.
But, and there's always a but, he
had never gone past six rounds prior to his title shot against Hrgovic. And in
his fourteen pro fights heading into Saturday's bout, he had yet to face real
periods of duress or resistance. Everything had come so easily to him.
There comes a moment of truth
where a top prospect is tested, where an opponent will show what the young
phenom has and doesn't have. And in this bout, Hrgovic, despite losing almost
every round, would play this role to perfection.
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Itauma (left) in trouble along the ropes
Photo courtesy of Queensberry Promotions |
Itauma started the fight like a
house on fire, pummeling Hrgovic with counter right hooks, short lefts to the
head and body, and counter jabs. He scored a knockdown in the second with a
counter hook, which wasn't even among the hardest blows that he would land in
the fight, but it was well placed to the upper left side of Hrgovic's
head.
In the fourth and fifth rounds,
Itauma would continue to land huge power shots, often countering with
combinations. He also added pulverizing left uppercuts into the mix. Somehow
Hrgovic took all the punches.
During fights I will often tweet
out a throwaway line or two about what a fighter needs to develop in the
future. After the fifth, I wrote that one punch Itauma doesn't have is a
straight left hand from distance. If he did have that punch, he could have had
success with one-twos against Hrgovic from the outside without having to go
full-throttle every round. He could win just as comfortably but wouldn't need
to be as reliant on his agility.
What I didn't realize was how
important that deficit from Itauma would be in THIS fight, just a few rounds
later.
Facing his toughest opponent,
Itauma revealed himself to be a mid-range counterpuncher. But he's not a
pot-shotter like Floyd Mayweather. He wants to counter with huge power shots,
often with combinations. He's from the "make them miss and make them
pay" school of boxing, which is fine as a general rule, but what he didn't
realize was the price that he himself would pay for lacking modulation. He
didn't have to counter as often or as ferociously as he did. He could have
picked moments.
But Itauma saw every counter
opportunity as a chance to end the fight. He would slip a Hrgovic shot and
counter with twos and threes, trying to land the decisive blow. He wasn't
interested in point scoring; he was gunning for the knockout.
The fight wasn't all one-way
traffic. Over time Itauma would miss more frequently. Often after a big Itauma
miss, Hrgovic would exploit these opportunities by landing one or two
quick power punches while Itauma was still out-of-position. These brief flurries
would further deplete Itauma.
The eighth round was a microcosm
of the fight. Itauma landed some of his finest power shots of match, including
nasty straight lefts to the body. Hrgovic was often in retreat. But at the end
of the round, Hrgovic returned the favor to Itauma's
body, placing a couple of bad-intentioned shots downstairs. And even though Itauma would take the round and dazzle the crowd, it was
he who had the slow and concerning walk back to the corner.
The absurdity of the ninth round
needs to be understood in context. Itauma had won at least seven of the first
eight rounds; plus, he had a knockdown. Let's say conservatively that he had a
seven-point lead with four rounds left to go. It's here (or even earlier) where
trainer Ben Davison needed to implore Itauma to pull back the reigns. The fight
was essentially won as long as Itauma stayed on his feet.
Ultimately, this was an unacceptable loss for
a world-class corner. Itauma kept going pedal-to-the-medal every round. He
didn't understand the pacing of a 12-round fight. His corner wasn't insistent
in changing the approach. The overall performance was one of arrogance and a
lack of preparation. Team Itauma didn't have enough respect for the opponent.
There was no plan for what would happen if Hrgovic was able to hang around and
remain dangerous, just more of the same. Where was any hint of a tactical
change?
If Itauma had to stink out the
last four rounds of a fight to win, so be it. That's the sign of a champion and
a championship corner: finding a way to win. Instead, naivete and arrogance
ruled the day.
***
Itauma still possesses the talent
to become an elite heavyweight, but more will be required. He will need to
develop an outside game. He must become proficient as a lead fighter. This will
help him control the pacing of a fight instead of relying on the work rate of
his opponent. He also needs to understand the finer points of ring craft: how
to take a round off, how to hold, how to preserve energy, and how to gut out a
victory. He and his team must also understand humility, respect for an
opponent, and the idea of winning a fight by whatever means necessary.
It's heavyweight boxing with big guys throwing bombs. All sorts of scenarios
could be in play in a given fight; it’s time to prepare for them.
As for Hrgovic, he showed cunning and veteran savvy, making a mockery of the pre-fight betting lines (he was as much as a 9/1
underdog). He displayed a level of maturity that he had lacked against Daniel
Dubois, where he also effectively punched himself out. (That's Hrgovic's only
professional loss.) Against Itauma, he wisely refrained from dragging the
fight into a war. He took his punishment and looked for moments here and there,
but that was as much as he was willing to do in the early rounds. He wasn't
interested in going out on his shield with guns blazing in three or four
rounds. He was playing a longer game.
With Hrgovic, it isn't always
pretty, but he can do different things in the ring. He can lead or counter,
move around the ring, rough it up on the inside. He can throw all his power
shots from odd angles, including his right to the side (or back) of the head.
In addition, he has a downward, chopping right hand from close range that does
a lot of damage.
Hrgovic has also showed
tremendous survival skills against Zhilei Zhang and took huge punches from
Zhang, David Adeleye, and Joe Joyce, among others. Quietly, he has beaten seven
undefeated fighters in his career, opponents who expected to be victorious.
In short, Hrgovic has tricks:
those for offense and those that can help him survive. He's physically strong,
rugged, cagey, and not intimidated by anyone. No one looks at Hrgovic and sees
perfection, but he's a tough night at the office for anyone. And sometimes the
right combination of tough and cagey can be enough.
***
Itauma-Hrgovic will become one of
the foundational fights in how to teach boxing. It will be a warning to young
prospects and a wake-up call for hotshot trainers.
There will always be someone who can take your punches. However good
you think you are or your fighter is, boxing is far more than a collection of technical skills. It's also about endurance,
handling adversity, thinking through a fight, finding different ways to beat an
opponent, and learning how to survive. Although the young ones might not want to focus on what happens when things go wrong in the ring, that's where a top corner comes into
play. It's their job to have their fighter prepared.
The time of hope and dream and potential for Moses Itauma is now over. Reality has entered the
building and crashed the era of good vibes and talk of the boxing stratosphere. Now, it's time for Act II, Moses. The road to glory may be harder than anticipated but it's still there.
It's your move.
He's a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Panel, the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and the Boxing Writers Association of America.
