We'll see if the old adage "once they crack, they don't come back" applies here. One thing is for sure, Itauma must be added to the list of fighters with suspect mandibles!!
He was just stretchered out of the ring after doing his best David Price imitation. He got wrecked. Whatever happened in the previous 8 rounds is irrelevant. If I am in a 5 mile race and sprint out to a huge lead after 3 miles but then I lose what does that make me?
Fanboys and glass jaw deniers will never accept the heroes they blindly worship have fragile mandibles. They can't handle the cognitive dissonance, so they have to come up with these silly excuses
Lots of bullies around here. Where are the real boxing fans? The itauma hate is ridiculous. Anyone who loves boxing must be glad to have one more interesting addition to heavyweight. Instead there are people rooting for a 21 year old to give up. You're the bad guys in any story! not. fans. of. this. sport.
I agree with this and before the pro Itauma crowd come for me, I'm no hater, I'm just someone that never fell for the hype, he is a talented fighter but as we saw on Saturday when someone is able to take what he can dish out and fire one or two shots to his midsection, it's a wrap. The thing is, hrgovic isn't that talented, he's just tough as he'll, had hrgovic had a Larry holmes type jab or lewis power, it could have been a career ending loss for itauma. He's really going to have to go back to the drawing board now and now fighters have witnessed his capitulation they'll want to have a go on him. I've always thought a skilled in shape fighter gives him fits, let's see how he rebounds from this
Exactly. The boy is 21 years old so let's all just calm the feck down. The same was pretty much said about Dubois. Yes he quit against Joyce and yes I personally think he did the same against Usyk, twice. But look how much he has improved and got his career back on track. In terms of longevity it was a wise thing to do, of course us fans don't like it one bit but I feel the people on this forum are a bit more knowledgeable about boxing than the average Joe down the pub. Hence why we joined the forum, for quality debates. So to see so many posters write Itauma off like they did with Dubois is absolutely baffling to me. Hrgovic was just too soon and way too experienced. I got this one wrong big time! I honestly thought he'd knock him out in 5 rounds. By George I was wrong, not the first time and most certainly not the last. Ben Davis is all wrong for him, Davis is knowledgeable and a good pundit but he's not cut out to be a trainer. His excellent punditry does not match the corner work.
He doesn't need to change his style; he needs to add a different mode. Who is to say he can't throw those quick shots at 50%? Who is to say he can't throw 2-3 shots at 50% then throw the next at 100%? There are tricks to this; I'd bet you that in the span of 5 minutes, Tyson Fury could tell you every stamina conservation and recovery trick there is for a heavyweight. I just can't get on board with your post. It's writing off a guy with so much potential. He's a 240lb heavyweight who can (but should only in spurts) fight like he's a lightweight, yet has real power. With the right training and right strategy, he should be an absolute demon in there. Capable of blitzing for knockouts, capable of using that speed and explosiveness to score points when up against a guy with a ****ing granite brick for a head.
Eh, Dubois is a different situation. His style works just fine for 12 rounds with his usual level of fitness. His only issues are mental. I want to say I think he's clearly on the spectrum and that's the source of his issues, which only makes him that much more of a badass that he's got to overcome that every fight. Ituama needs to learn how to fight for points.
I agree 100% that it's mental with Dubois but the OP is suggesting that it's the same with Itauma and that he can't get back from this which is a ludicrous thing to say. It's not the end of the world if you step up in levels and lose. Experience gained and a lesson learned. Itauma has a quick and nasty jab, get a trainer in and get him to work behind the jab. Don't go full loco every bloody round! What on earth was Davis teaching? You can do that against the washed up fighters that he fought before in order to get people talking but against Hrgovic? Madness..Jab to the body, jab to the head the hands will drop eventually and that's when you go in with the haymaker. With that being said, I'm happy for the Hrgovic. I've never been a fan but his toughness and his genuine humbless something you see a lot in Slavic fighters made me one. Give him his 1st defence in Croatia, I might even go over to watch and have a cheeky holiday there because Croatia is amazing.
You are an idiot and I have no idea how you haven't been laughed off of this site. Despite having an iron chin, Hrgovic still had to survive a knockdown, a bad cut, and got rocked multiple times before stopping Moses. Not one trainer with an IQ over 60 (which is about twice as high as yours) will tell their boxer "just walk through Moses' punches and nail him in the jaw a few times, he'll go down, he can't hit,", because they know they might lead to a brutal KO loss. Moses is dangerous every minute of every round so long as he is upright regardless of how you grade his chin.