FILE – Britain’s Moses Itauma, middle, celebrates after beating Australia’s Demsey McKean of their heavyweight boxing struggle in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photograph/Frank Augstein, File)
LONDON — Rising heavyweight star Moses Itauma is ready for his hardest problem when he faces Filip Hrgovic of Croatia on Aug. 29 in London, with a title struggle probably for the winner.
The 21-year-old southpaw, who has drawn comparisons to a younger Mike Tyson, has been eying a title shot in 2026 and turned extra heads in March together with his brutal knockout of Jermaine Franklin Jr.
“This struggle is the litmus take a look at Moses is prepared for and it’s the one he needed,” Queensberry promoter Frank Warren mentioned in Friday’s announcement of the bout at The 02. “Filip believes will probably be an excessive amount of too quickly for the younger star.”
Itauma (14-0, 12 KOs) and Hrgovic (21-1, 15 KOs) are first and second, respectively, within the WBO rankings.
Daniel Dubois beat Fabio Wardley in Could for the WBO belt, and Wardley has exercised a rematch clause.
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The 34-year-old Hrgovic, who gained a bronze medal on the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, earned a third-round stoppage in opposition to British fighter Dave Allen in Could. The 6-foot-6 Croatian’s solely loss as a professional was to Dubois in 2024.
The 6-foot-2 Itauma turned professional three years in the past with a debut KO victory that lasted simply 23 seconds. Solely twice in his profession has he did not win by stoppage. Each of these have been six-round bouts in 2023.
Itauma’s father is Nigerian and his mom is from Slovakia, the place Itauma was born. They moved to southeast England — Chatham in Kent — when he was younger.
