Moses Itauma vs. Filip Hrgović & Sam Noakes vs. Denys Berinchyk + Nelson Hysa vs. Thomas Narmo RBR.

I heard an interesting point today, saying that Itauma could have taken a knee and a count in the 9th, as he was so far ahead. And that breather may have given him enough to finish the fight and get a points victory.
A 'what if', but an interesting one.

His lack of experience was very obvious, he didn't need to swing for the fences in the last rounds, he could have stayed elusive and still won.

 

Maybe but it was those heavy combos that kept Hrgovic from establishing himself. Moses must have felt it necessary to keep Hrgovic off him. I think Moses looked good but this is one fight where they precisely knew the opponents gameplan….so endurance, stamina or whatever you want to call it must have been top of the agenda in training camp. Some guys just don’t have the engine for long hard fights no matter what they do. He’ll be fine if he can keep catching guys early and getting them out of there, but once he meets someone that can take or evade his punches and make him fight outside of his own pace, I think we’ll see him fade late again. I imagine we’ll see a slow build up now and rightfully so. Hopefully they step him up more wisely

 

Lol.. Ituama gass tank was so empty that if he took a knee his body probably physically wouldn't let him stand up

 

Has anyone mentioned how God awful both guys were in that their hands were down and there was a lot of wild swinging? Itauma in that 9th was God terrible. Windmill punches. No guards, both were horrendous.

 

To be fair, both were pretty spot on in their summation

 

I believe it will be Sanchez as he is the mandatory and was literally paid off.

 

I watched a video on YouTube earlier where somebody was interviewing Abel Sanchez after the fight,Sanchez said the gameplan was to keep Itauma busy and to force him to keep Hrgovic off him every minute of every round by any means then once they could see Itauma slowing down to then slowly increase the actual work rate from Hrgovic. Sanchez himself saying it was a risky gameplan and a gamble relying on Hrgovic being able to weather the storm and then take over the fight and look to stop a tired and gassed Itauma in the later rounds. The plan certainly worked but I’m not sure any other fighter has the chin or even the confidence in there own chin to pull off what Hrgovic did last night .

 

Incredibly dangerous fight for Itauma.

 

Chin? I don't know about that.

It just screams a bit of Tommy Morrison here. Itauma basically met his Ray Mercer.

 

That's a great angle, it shows that Filip WAS catching Moses with shots - it wasn't ALL exhaustion - the reaction to the big body shot says it all.

Folks should watch the last minute of round 8 again, Hrgo risjed a fair bit letting Moses empty his tank trying to KO him, but he then caught the kid with 3 really meaty and nasty body shots on the inside and a check hook, those REALLY exacerbated the tank-emptying IMO.

Folks need to give Hrgo more credit for good shot selection at the right times - his work with Sanchez definitely showed more offensive nuance last night IMO

 

He needs serious rounds against someone durable. I don't think Itauma will achieve much from knocking old glassed up chins out early such as Whyte.

Hughie Fury or Vianello would be good come back fights IMO.

 

Moses Itauma was carrying at least 10 pounds of excess body fat. Probably even 15. When you come into the ring at over 240 pounds you will not be able to go 12 hard rounds. He's either got to lose the fat or pace. It's one or the other.

 

Moses & his trainers also should realise that just because he CAN knock folks out early, doesn't mean he SHOULD.

His team should look to match him with someone fairly durable - but unlikely to win on points and have Itauma fight a disciplined jab-led LOOSE points-winning approach. Get 9, 10, 12 rounds under the belt. FEEL what affect it has on cardio - see what difference not loading up all the time makes etc etc.

It might not be great for the audience, but it's the old adage - he needs to get rounds in, and learn how to win on points using his skiils first.

Once he can do that then they can work on reintstating the KO's - where it makes sense to do so based on opportunity etc etc

 

You have to admit Hrgovic proved you wrong. At the same time, I remember you described him as a statue and I think that is quite literally the perfect word to describe Hrgovic.

 

How did Jaron Ennis get involved in this conversation?