Moses Itauma may never lose again if he can get over the “humiliation” of his IBF heavyweight title defeat, says Filip Hrgovic, who stunned the Briton in August.
The Croatian, 34, stopped Itauma, who had been the strong pre-fight favourite, in the ninth round of their meeting at the O2 Arena.
The early signs suggested Itauma had the measure of his opponent, with Hrgovic touching the canvas in the second round and conceding that he was “outboxed” early on.
Hrgovic took advantage when Itauma tired but stressed the 21-year-old southpaw is so skilful that he could go on to have a hugely succesful career if he learns from his loss.
“He’s really good. He’s special. Very fast, very talented and he countered whatever I tried with his speed and timing,” said Hrgovic.
“I never was in the ring before with such a talented kid, with such a fast guy. You have some fast guys but they’re small heavyweights. You can handle them with your power but this kid is fast and big. He’s got great IQ and great talent.
“I’m still kind of angry because he outboxed me. In my whole career, in 20 years of boxing, I was never outboxed in any sparring or any fight.”
While Hrgovic, who wants to unify the division, praised Itauma’s boxing abilities, he suggested doubts remain over his mentality.
“It was big shock for him, big humiliation, so maybe it’s end of his career if he’s not mentally tough. If he recovers from this loss, mentally, it will be hard for anyone to ever beat him again,” Hrgovic added.
“A lot of people after that kind of loss, they never come back. So, it will be a hard journey for him to come back.
“You have to go through a ruthless, hard training camp. You need to go through hell to be mentally ready for this. I think he was physically ready but it’s the mental part.”