Moses Itauma believes the calls for him to be “tested” before difficult for a world title are being misunderstood.
The unbeaten heavyweight prospect has stopped 13 of his 14 opponents and can face the hardest task of his profession when he meets Filip Hrgovic on August 29 at London’s O2 Arena. While many observers consider the 21-year-old still needs to reply questions on his durability, Itauma insists that isn’t what critics are really in search of.
As an alternative, he believes many simply need to see him hurt.
“The one thing that I necessarily don’t agree with is individuals are saying, ‘Oh, they need to see me tested,’” Itauma told IFL TV. “After they say tested, they need to simply see me get hurt. That’s what they mean by tested.
“They need to see this whole, ‘Can you are taking a punch? Test your chin.’ But that’s not the meaning of tested. They simply need to see me get hurt. I’m going to try my best to not, but obviously in boxing it’s probably inevitable. It’s just the way you take care of that situation.”
Itauma argued that being tested ought to be measured by a fighter’s ability to unravel problems contained in the ring relatively than by how much punishment they will absorb. He pointed to his victory over Jermaine Franklin earlier this 12 months, explaining that he had to change his approach after trying too hard for an early stoppage.
“Getting the rounds. You would like to placed on a little bit of a show before you shut it out,” Itauma said. “Within the Jermaine Franklin fight, I attempted to knock him out to prove some extent, then I assumed, ‘I may need began too fast.’ I modified the tactics, slowed it down a bit, after which got the knockout.
“I proved to my coaches that I’m in a position to change the tactics mid-fight.”
The Hrgovic bout should provide Itauma with one other opportunity to reply those questions. The Croatian is a former Olympic bronze medalist whose only skilled defeat got here against Daniel Dubois in an IBF heavyweight title fight, making him essentially the most achieved opponent Itauma has faced.
A victory over Hrgovic would strengthen Itauma’s case for a shot at one in every of the heavyweight titles that became available after Oleksandr Usyk vacated multiple belts, while also giving him the largest win of his rapidly developing profession.
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Last Updated on 2026/07/08 at 3:10 AM