Saturday night sees a blockbuster of a fight take place at the O2 Arena in London with Moses Itauma and Filip Hrgovic facing off in a potential heavyweight classic.
Britain’s Itauma, still only 21, could become the second-youngest heavyweight world champion in history behind Mike Tyson, but he must dispose of tough customer Hrgovic first. His opponent is 13 years older and has certainly been engaging in all the typical trash talk in the build-up to Saturday’s fight which has the vacant IBF world heavyweight strap up for grabs.
Hrgovic has referred to the home fighter as a “kid” and “inexperienced” in the run-up to the anticipated bout – something that has clearly irked Itauma, whose record stands at an unblemished 14-0.
“I tell myself there’s nothing that this Hrgovic guy can do to get in my head but he’s starting to wind me up,” Itauma admitted, three days out from fight night in the capital. “In an interview earlier, apparently he said I wake up and I just hug trees. He’s really starting to annoy me.
“In my mind if somebody’s trying to get one up on you, or trying to get in your head, it’s because they’re not confident in themselves. Obviously Hrgovic is a talker. Before fights, he’s always said certain things – like he did to [Daniel] Dubois when he said he sees big muscles but not big balls. Then you see Dubois, in his mind, is raging. So Hrgovic has always been a talker. It’s just because English is not his first language that people don’t pay attention.”
😤 “I’m tired of hearing his voice”
Moses Itauma reacts to Filip Hrgovic talking about his come up
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The war of words between the pair has clearly stirred the pot ahead of a fight that was already capturing the imagination of fight fans with thousands set to be in attendance Saturday night.
“He’s already in the clouds. He’s already delusional,” Hrgovic said. “It can ruin your soul, it can make you lose yourself and we’ve seen a lot of superstars and famous people who have lost themselves.
“They’re just lost in that crazy world of fame and money. He’s not ready for that. I think, for him, it would be best to lose this fight, to save his soul. Because what does it mean to achieve everything if you lose your soul and you lose yourself?”
Itauma’s promoter Frank Warren, no stranger to moulding British sporting superstars, believes Itauma could be the next off the production line should he take care of Hrgovic. Warren said: “If he comes through, I don’t think he’d just be an icon in boxing. He’d be a sporting icon.”
Itauma’s opponent has become accustomed to facing British opposition. Hrgovic’s last four fights have come against Britons – Dave Allen, David Adeleye, Joe Joyce and Daniel Dubois. It was Dubois who inflicted the Croat’s sole professional loss to date back in June 2024 – the only blot on a 21-fight copybook for Hrgovic.
But since then his last three fights have seen him seal victories over the aforementioned Brits and he’s seemingly accustomed to soaking up crowd hostility on these shores. Another slice of inspiration for Hrgovic is the opportunity to set history by becoming the first-ever Croat world heavyweight champion.
With so much up for grabs for both fighters, it has all the ingredients to be a modern classic.
