Filip Hrgovic secured a ninth-round knockout against Moses Itauma after trainer Abel Sanchez instructed the Croatian heavyweight to aim for a stoppage in London. Sanchez planned to tire the British favorite rather than rely on the judges’ scorecards.
Sanchez approached the bout convinced that Hrgovic had almost no chance of winning on points against the home fighter in front of a partisan crowd. Consequently, corner instructions focused on endurance rather than matching Itauma’s early output. Hrgovic absorbed incoming combinations on his arms and shoulders, relying on a disciplined jab to disrupt his opponent’s rhythm and force frequent resets.
Speaking to Fight Hub TV, Sanchez explained the tactical mindset: “We weren’t going to win a decision. I don’t care how close the fight was; we were not going to win a decision because boxing has a tendency to do what’s best for boxing financially. I expected to be down. I expected not to win any rounds. I expected Filip to be the 9-to-1 or 8-to-1 underdog. I expected all that, but it was a 12-round fight, and we were going to capitalize on it being a 12-round fight,”
The strategy required extreme patience during the early exchanges.
Itauma threw rapid multi-punch combinations and controlled the ring initially, backed by vocal home support. However, each flurry carried a heavy physical cost for the younger heavyweight. By forcing Itauma to expend energy closing distance, Hrgovic systematically eroded his opponent’s sharp start. As Itauma’s volume dropped from the sixth round onward, Hrgovic began stepping forward to control the center of the ring.
Sanchez drew parallels to Andy Ruiz Jr.’s 2016 bout against Joseph Parker in New Zealand, where he warned Ruiz that he was behind on points before boarding the flight. The approach in London proved effective as Hrgovic took charge in the second half of the contest, culminating in the ninth-round finish that rendered the judges’ scorecards irrelevant. The win shifts the division dynamics as Hrgovic establishes himself among the leading heavyweight contenders.
