Moses Itauma vs Filip Hrgovic Fight Results: Hrgovic Stuns The O2 Arena With A 9th Round TKO Victory

After being down big on the scorecards, Filip Hrgovic somehow had enough energy to hang on and scored a ninth-round TKO over an extremely exhausted Moses Itauma to become the new IBF heavyweight champion live on DAZN PPV.

After the fight, Hrgovic (21-1, 16 KOs) said that although Frank Sanchez is the mandatory challenger who stepped aside to allow the fight with Itauma (14-1, 12 KOs) to happen, he instead wants to pursue unification fights with the other champions.

In the opening round, Itauma’s blazing hand speed was a factor from the start. His check right hook gave Hrgovic a ton of problems. Itauma then switched up his 1-2 combinations to the head and focused on Hrgovic’s chest with a straight left hand. Hrgovic could not land anything significant as Itauma was too quick with his combinations.

Itauma continued his dominance in the second round. Seconds into the round, he landed a cupping right hook that forced Hrgovic to touch the canvas, with his glove recording the first knockdown of the fight. Itauma’s combinations left Hrgovic confused and unsteady. In the third round, Itauma appeared to be taking a breather, and Hrgovic took full advantage. Hrgovic got his offense going and, toward the end of the round, landed a hard straight right hand that froze Itauma, forcing him to hold.

Hrgovic continued to pick things up in the fourth round, although Itauma landed a few eye-catching combinations. Hrgovic was holding on, but Itauma’s speed remained an issue. In the fifth round, Hrgovic dictated the pace with his left jab, and when he landed his straight right, Itauma stepped back and was forced to reset. Hrgovic dominated the round, but toward the end, Itauma landed a vicious left uppercut that stood Hrgovic right up.

Itauma slowed things down in the sixth round, which played into Hrgovic’s hand as he landed some huge right hands that temporarily stunned Itauma. Hrgovic had his best round up to that point. Both fighters took a breather in the seventh round after a brutal first half of the fight.

In the eighth round, Itauma continued to beat up Hrgovic’s body with his straight left hand. After about six of them, Hrgovic was hurt, and Itauma tried to land big left hooks to stop him, but Hrgovic survived the round.

Hrgovic landed a right hand in the ninth round that rocked Itauma. What happened next was weird. Itauma was so exhausted that he couldn’t stand straight on his own and eventually fell back against the ropes. His trainer was about to throw the towel when Hrgovic landed a big right hand that knocked Itauma down as the towel was thrown in. Hrgovic wins by TKO and becomes the new IBF champion.

Abraham Gonzalez

Abraham Gonzalez is a 2x award-winning writer, International Boxing Hall of Fame voter, founder and publisher of FightsATW. His journalistic work has been published and used across several platforms, including online, network TV, and promotional companies. He is an alumnus of an American Public University and a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA). Abraham was the Managing Editor for NYFights, Big Fight Weekend, and contributed to The Ring Magazine, FanSidedMMA, and ProBoxTV.

See author's posts