British heavyweight Moses Itauma, 21, experienced his first professional defeat on Saturday night at the O2 Arena, losing to Filip Hrgovic in the ninth round of their contest for the vacant IBF heavyweight title. The referee stopped the fight after Itauma's corner threw in the towel.
Despite the defeat, Itauma was described as the quicker, sharper, and more assured fighter for significant portions of the bout, repeatedly landing left hands on Hrgovic. However, the 34-year-old Croatian's experience ultimately prevailed as Itauma reportedly ran out of gas.
Itauma, who had never gone beyond six rounds professionally, admitted before the fight that he had not sparred 12 rounds. Promoter Frank Warren remains confident in Itauma's talent, comparing his situation to that of two-time world champion Daniel Dubois, who successfully rebuilt his career after setbacks.