Filip Hrgovic plans to turn his August 29 fight against Moses Itauma into a grueling, physical brawl. The Croatian veteran intends to test the unbeaten prospect’s composure by wrestling and applying constant pressure, betting that his own endurance will be the deciding factor.
Hrgovic has made his strategy clear. He will not engage in a technical boxing match with the faster, younger Itauma. Instead, he aims to make it an ugly, mauling affair from the first bell, closing the distance and negating Itauma’s reach advantage. He stated his intentions plainly. “I want to get in fight with him. I want to test him. I want to put pressure on him. I want to make him tired, wrestle with him,” Hrgovic said. He even referenced the film ‘Rocky’, vowing to “Throw him out of the ring like this guy from Rocky.” The approach targets what is seen as Itauma’s primary weakness: a tendency to panic when opponents get past his jab and force an inside fight. While Itauma is physically strong with dangerous hooks and uppercuts in close quarters, his mental fortitude under duress is completely unproven.
The entire fight hinges on whether Itauma can withstand this veteran pressure. Hrgovic believes his conditioning will be the key, especially in the later rounds. “I want to put on big pace of the fight. I want to get him tired. I think my endurance is better. I think I can act better when we are both tired,” he explained. This is the classic test for a rising prospect. Itauma has looked perfect against opponents who allowed him to control the range, but he has never faced a world-class heavyweight determined to drag him into a dogfight.
Hrgovic also dismissed the quality of Itauma’s signature victories over Dillian Whyte and Jermaine Franklin, suggesting they do not prepare him for this level of confrontation. “He fought good names, Franklin and Whyte, but they were not in good shape honestly in that fights,” said Hrgovic. He believes those wins look better on paper than they were in reality. “It’s good win on paper, but doesn’t tell a lot because they weren’t in great shape.” For Hrgovic, the path to victory is to mentally break the 21-year-old by forcing him into a type of fight he has never experienced. If Itauma can match that physicality, Hrgovic’s aggressive plan could backfire completely, leaving him open to fast, devastating counters.
