Hrgovic is a more talented fighter than Itauma

Some thoughts:

Fighting talent isn't just speed, accuracy and punching power: it is durability, stamina, intelligence, emotional control, mental toughness. These are attributes that Itauma naturally lacks and Hrgovic has in abundance.

We cannot assume that Itauma is going to make major improvements from where he is now and he could easily regress. Mike Tyson peaked at 21. Itauma could very well go the way of Jared Anderson; another on-top fighter who didn't love boxing, who openly admitted he was looking to make his money and get out, like Itauma. The bigger the hype, the harder the fall, and a man who doesn't enjoy boxing when he's winning will detest it when he loses. In recent years, AJ and Wilder are also examples in this regard, though they did at least become long-reigning titlists before they lost at 29 and 34 respectively.

At 17 Hrgovic won the youth world championships, like Itauma. At 21 Hrgovic was a veteran of the "semi-pro" WSB, stopping accomplished Cuban amateurs and getting the better of Haye and Wilder in sparring. This suggests to me that Itauma's biggest problem wasn't his lack of experience relative to Hrgovic but Hrgovic simply having his number.

As some noted in the RBR, Itauma was breathing noticably after round 1. Hrgovic started to make it competitive in round 3, and continued this trend in 5 and 6. By the end of 8, Itauma was falling apart, and Hrgovic delivered the coup de grace in 9.

Hrgovic was not looking to outpoint Itauma and he was fighting with 12 rounds in mind, not 6 or 8. Hrgovic came to stop Itauma, and Itauma left on a stretcher. No amount of coping and mental gymnastics will change this.

 

Your hype job got exposed, it happens.

"All the king's horses and all the king's men, couldn't put Humpty together again..."

 

Prior to the Zhang fight, Hrgovic was the most avoided man in the division. Not one of the contenders would fight him until they got down to Zhang, who was something like 13th in the rankings. Not Parker, Hunter, Bakole, Ruiz etc. None of them fancied their chances against Hrgovic.

Against Zhang and Dubois, Hrgovic was overconfident. This is not an excuse as that is a defect in his character. But how could he take power punching SHW southpaw Zhang that seriously, having seen him almost die against Jerry Forrest? And he treated Dubois with zero respect, due to Dubois' prior performances and his history beating a young Dubois up in sparring, despite Dubois being a dirty A-side SHW puncher.

It is fair to say that we had never seen Hrgovic in as good physical condition (236 lbs with abs) and so mentally up for a fight as he was vs Itauma.

 

Also more heart/mental toughness. The delusional Itauma claimed he had better IQ before the fight, but said the fight was "IQ vs heart", effectively conceding heart to Hrgovic, which is a self-sabotaging admission.

 

Dumb. If you have a glass chin and body, a limited engine, low IQ and a wavering heart, that is a lack of talent in key areas.

 

The post is partly a corrective to those who see talent in very limited terms. Itauma has talent but so did Price, Haye, AJ, to varying degrees. Itauma is cut from that cloth.

 

In my reality Itauma left on a stretcher. How about yours?