Haye was still standing and throwing back when the Ref jumped in, Moses looked like a dead fish out if water
Ituama felt the weight of pressure, everyone pundit wise were saying this is the real deal, KO power and the obvious Mike Tyson comparisons. He was so far ahead and unravelled totally gassed out, was shocking actually.
It’s a good point about the British/euro/commonwealth route being the optimum way forward. It’s almost a lost art though these days. Itauma in many ways is a victim of the lack of a boxing hierarchy, with the proliferation of belts and lack of meaning and structure to anything outside of big fights. It’s hard to “progress” when there aren’t really any reference points to measure against, other than commercial value. This then leans to break out fights being sink or swim fights. Ideally you want to have tested the waters beforehand. Part of the issue of course is that Itauma’s uncommon hand speed and punch selection means there aren’t many people who can take him rounds. I don’t want to compare him to Tyson as that’s been done too much already, but Tyson had been extended and gone rounds by Tillis and Green, proved he could pace himself, and then learned from it.
I honestly think Itauma will have a belt in 6 months. He’s just too good for this current crop of heavyweights. He’s will beat them all. Sure he needs better stamina and harder sparring and I think losing his zero along with all the weight being lifted from his shoulders will benefit him.
With regards to Itauma, this shouldn’t and won’t be the end of him. Many have spoken about Haye’s loss to Thompson and how it didn’t hurt his progress. However, while I think protecting the 0 is generally nonsense, in this instance being undefeated would really have assisted Itauma become a star - and he could be viewed as close to invincible. It’s a shame that’s gone. I did call that there was nothing to suggest Hrgovic would be a knock over job - 15 years of evidence to the contrary. Without wishing to apportion blame - the Warrens, and team Itauma need to reflect on this as to the thinking. If you’re going to get in with Hrgovic (and there is a huge step between Franklin and that version of Whyte) then you need to be prepared to go 12 rounds. I think it’s poor matchmaking and then really poor preparation. Also after 6 rounds, he just needed to stay on his feet. It was obvious he was tiring. The instruction should have been - get on your bike, counter punch and spoil. He could have done the 12. The amount of energy he wasted in 7-9 throwing bombs was obscene. All very avoidable.
He won't be out again this year unless they decide to give him a pre Xmas payday against a limited opponent. Not even the defeat but being so far ahead on all cards and ending up carried out of the ring will be mentally hard to deal with short term. I also think the management team and Ituama will need time to plan a way forward, trainer, conditioning and pathway back to the top.
I think it's abit daft sparing that many rounds to be honest, that's where you start getting hurt. He was gassed because he didn't pace the fight due to experience not because he wasn't fit
with the way boxing is now for sure that’s a possibility. Think my main point is that it won’t hinder him, the loss that is. Watching those first few rounds at the weekend he looks as good as any heavyweight I’ve ever seen. So fast and sharp. I do think he will switch out his team, rushed too quickly a bit like Khan when he fought Prescott for 20 seconds.
I don’t think you can possibly argue that Itauma has stamina issues after that fight. It’s not a great comparison but we’ve seen the likes of Wlad, Joshua and David Price be completely gassed after 4-5 rounds at early stages in their careers. He’s 21 years old and threw more power punches in 9 rounds than many recent heavyweight fighters have in 12, and was bossing the fight for 8 rounds. If anything, I think he looks like he has a decent tank and he doesn’t have an overly muscular upper body to will drain him. Issue for fans is- it could be 12-18 months before he sees a meaningful fight. The world moves too quickly for people to wait and care.
good post mate. I wonder if he just didn’t know his body’s limitations? He’s always been this killer who banjos people after one round. Maybe he slacked off in training thinking there was no need to go hell for leather. Or he is fit but needs to pace himself more. either way he went out on his shield throwing to the very end. For the record I wanted him to lose at the weekend, not that I dislike him I just don’t really listen to his interviews as the landan Bruv accent is grating. And I prefer Hrgovic .
I mainly agree. He looked great for the first half, even though he was blowing early. Very few would have survived that onslaught. To win the opponent needed elite chin and high level ring IQ. Even Wardley with his great chin would have been TKO’d (ref stoppage) in my opinion. It’s up to Moses now if he sinks or swims. It could be the best or the worst thing that could happen for his career. We’ll see. For someone with his ego the manner the loss will hurt a lot. He has looked almost perfect to many before that, and he’ll really hate to watch himself swinging wildly at air and bouncing off the ropes. Then there’s being stretchered off. He can absolutely come again and win belts if he has the right mentality and doesn’t make the same hugh mistake by going in with someone who basically can’t be hurt and has a good gas tank. His trainers and promoters are to blame for letting him take that fight.