Let's just say it: Moses lost to a tough, limited contender and as of yet has accomplished nothing.

Fantastic point and I don’t disagree. He very well may have done better with others in the top 5, and likely would have with people in the top 10 - BUT we can only work with what we got. As of now its looking like anyone who can make it through 6 is probably gonna be tough for him.

Some of the other guys may not have the chin of Hrg, but he is also much more hittable and / or has less firepower than some of those other top guys.

 

Moses is a good solid fighter. Maybe just below championship caliber. Still a fun fighter

 

Should have worked his way up instead of fighting clubfighters an shot old timers. Had plenty of options. First Brit title, then Slovak title, then Euro title an Brit commonwealth titles an only then going for world titles

 

Yeah, I'm not saying my scorecard is gospel, but Itauma outlanded Hrgovic in every round apart from the 9th. I don't think he won every round, though. I don't think he won the 5th; I think Filip edged it, even after being hit with an uppercut from hell right on the bell. I'm not sure whether I give him that one because it was the only round where he genuinely started to turn the tide.

He also needed a stoppage to win, though. I gave him the 5th as his only round, so going into the 8th I had him 6-1 down, including a 10-8 round. He was coming on strong each round, but I don't think he was doing enough to win the rounds outright. Hrgovic was always in the fight because of his granite chin, but skill-wise he was miles behind Itauma; he admitted it himself after the fight.

I agree that 8 was a big one, some great body shots, but even if Itauma slowed and lost a couple of the last rounds and lasted the 12, I don't see how he wouldn't have won wide on the cards.

 

Hrgovic is limited in the power and stamina departments, decent skills but the stamina issues leave him very beatable on cards and you'd have to be packing glass for him to get the KO.

But given the big unknowns with Itauma were his durability and stamina... Losing due to stamina problems against a guy known to be limited in the gas tank stakes is concerning, as is losing by stoppage to a guy with mediocre power (even if exhaustion plays a part).

In hindsight, it's a tough stylistic match - beforehand, somewhat understandably, plenty were expecting him to either be the one to knock Hrgovic out (given how lethal his power looked previously, including against Franklin who was pretty durable even if utter shite overall) or to win on cards, itself understandable given Hrgovic's own stamina issues...
In hindsight, absolutely a tough stylistic match - but in the run-up, it looked like a sensible progression to his first live gatekeeper.

And yes, he's not packing Pricey porcelain - but equally he might well struggle to win any fight where he can't get the KO pretty early on... The big question is, just how much can he repeat his only trick against other decent fighters?

And absolutely, youth leaves plenty of scope for improvement, potentially, but time will tell.

 

Yeah of all this era's top British HW's he's one of the only one's who hasn't picked up any regional stuff.

 

On the one hand, sure, it's impressive that he could consistently light up a decently skilled fighter (if slow and eminently hittable) despite the step up.

On the other... He blew his load in 2/3 of the available rounds and gassed harder than his opponent who's not known for great stamina... That's concerning for a young athlete.

He's young, there's time to fix things - and as long as he wants it enough, and doesn't wind up blunting his strengths in the process, it's entirely possible he could still be a contender... But he's clearly not yet.

 

You're right in that he needs to do a bit more to really put himself into contention, but that doesn't take away the positive attributes he showed in the ring. Who else took on such a challenge so early in their careers?

Stamina is far easier to fix than taking a good punch, heart and power.

 

I'm not sure it really matters - what matters is how he responds and whether he improves.

There were positives, sure, but he still lost to a fighter with clear limitations who's now being overhyped off the back of this - which masks that this wasn't a loss to a top contender.

Sure, or at least up to a point - pacing shouldn't be THAT difficult to improve/fix, in the scheme of things... And general fitness and stamina should be improvable.

But there's always a risk with trying to slow a fighter down that you make them less effective, easier to hit and winning less clear rounds... Not necessarily, but it can easily happen when you force someone to think and plan more rigidly rather than fighting their natural fight - and plenty get caught between gears and overthinking... And let's not pretend Moses comes across someone with much intellectual horsepower.

Likewise stamina should be improvable - but he's got to want to put the work in.

 

There isnt a top trainer in boxing that doesnt think he can have itauma ready to win the rematch if he took over. including abel sanchez. the only 2 things lacking in the kid are experience and conditioning. He's got enough experience now to know what worked, what didnt, for this particular fight. and conditioning is not some dark art, you put in the work, you see the results. any good coach feels he can teach him the particulars of whats going to get him past this obstacle.

 

Agreed on all points. Hrgovic is pretty beatable unless you have a ridiculous game plan like trying to KO him and then not adjusting when that doesnt work.

I just don't agree with people completely writing Moses off. Maybe he bounces back, maybe he doesn't...I'd still like to see him try.

 

A 24 year old Itauma beats ANY version of Hrgovic though....
In fact if Itauma had gone the distance with Franklin, he probably would've beaten Hrgovic at the weekend.

Not having gone the distance, at least once, is why Itauma lost that fight.
There's nothing Hrgovic can do against an Itauma that can go 12....The fight showed us that. He's too slow to give an Itauma that would box to a decision any problems.

 

Absolutely baffling how Bricktop and Moses' people have handled his career so far. Definitely got high own their own supply of BS selling this kid as immediately able to wipe the floor with everyone in the division.

Iron Mike didn't fight for the title against Berbick until, what, his 28th fight? But you throw this kid in versus a few cab drivers and washed dudes over 40 and then decide he's ready for a title shot? A kid who literally only knows how to go out there and put 1000% into every punch and try blitzing dudes out immediately? And your pick for his title shot is a dude who has never been knocked out and who might have one of the best chins of all time? Pants on head ******ed.

You're absolutely right that there were plenty of fights for this kid to be had that would have been a step up from the dregs he had been fighting. Adeleye would have been a good one. Solid, British level guy with some power. Riakpohre is another. British level, not that impressive, but not a 40+ year old corpse. You could have got Okolie before he popped for PEDs. Okolie straight up said he'd love to fight Moses. Tony Yoka, Nelson Hysa, Justis Huni, Torrez Jr. (who was calling out Moses btw), Hughie Fury, Damian Kynba, or Guido Vianello would all have been good opponents.

And if you still were dead set on being idiots and shoving him into a title fight before he'd even learned how to pace himself so he didn't get stretchered out of the arena, why Hrgovic? Gassiev was calling Moses out, wanted the fight, and he's a joke now compared to his days at CW. But they actually ducked that fight. Lord knows why.