Hrgovic rejected the Itauma fight.

This. Everyone else is ignoring it.

Time to cut the Ituama hype, here.

 

I turned the match as well. I'm busy that night.

 

I don't blame him at all.

He probably has recollections of the last time he fought one of Warren's golden boys.
Hrgovic was the longtime IBF #1 (and mandatory) fighting for the interim title against Dubois who was parachuted into the rankings months before, and he got zero protection from the referee for all the headbutts that went it. They basically jobbed him out of his ranking and title shot

Fight Itauma and he will be given slim chance to win with the deck fully stacked against him. First sign of trouble, and they will wave it off. Cut opens up, they will wave it off. Goes to the cards, ... you get the picture.

But let's for the sake of argument ignore all that - we can pretend it will be a level playing field. Say he beats Itauma, what then? What is Hrgovic going to do with a slightly higher ranking when Parker can't even get a title shot?

Just hot air from Warren

 

It does but he may have been offered a decent payday. We rarely get to hear the facts in those matters. Only the whining.

 

Using the word "hype" with Itauma makes no sense to me.
There is a connotation of bull**** and marketing when saying a guy is hyped. Itauma has no rounds because it is basically impossible to look better than he has.
It is not what he has done , it is the way he has done it. For a baseball analogy, he is basically throwing no hitters and there was absolutely nothing the batters could do about it.
AJ to me was a guy who was hyped. A British guy for the brits to hype up with huge marketing potential while ignoring the obvious flaws.
Itauma on the other hand looks like a video game character with all the attributes at 99 besides not knowing what level his chin is.
His chin doesn't have to be 99 though. It just has to not be bad.
I don't think that combination at that age can be "hyped". It is mistaking excitement for the future with a type of bull**** that doesn't apply in this situation.

 

I can't really blame him too much.

 

Itauma has looked great knocking out taxi drivers and a very washed Whyte, but so did Joshua in his first 13 fights, and he at least had a gold medal around his neck to add legitimacy, all Itauma has is sparring stories.