“I don’t get treated the way I am for no reason,” sighed Moses Itauma after listening to Filip Hrgovic pour scorn on him.
“There’s obviously something about me that promoters really push.
“And it’s not what I have done, but what I could do. And I feel like with every fight I have, I’m proving to them that I can do, I am capable of what they think I’m capable of.”
The talented southpaw Itauma was responding to criticism from Hrgovic, his August 29 opponent, who argued that 21-year-old Itauma had been handed everything he has on a platter thus far in his career.
Hrgovic, however, pointed out that he is a big step up for Itauma, who vanquished Jermaine Franklin impressively in March.
“Of course, it is a step up,” acknowledged the youngster.
“And Hrgovic is my toughest opponent. I’m not shying away from that. Have I been treated like a golden child? I wouldn’t say so, because it’s not for no reason. I’ve knocked everyone out in the first or second round. Jermaine Franklin has never, ever, ever touched the canvas and just come off a victory over Ivan Dychko. I’ve splattered him in five rounds, you know what I mean? When you say golden child, it makes it seem like it’s a privilege. I wouldn’t say that I’ve been privileged in boxing.
“I’m not going to argue my point because I know, but come on. Did they put Dillian Whyte on a plate for me? No, I had to do a whole training camp. I don’t mind you guys [journalists] saying this because you guys don’t know, but [Hrgovic’s] a fighter himself.
“It’s just disappointing that he’s saying this because going through a camp, spending the money you’ve got to spend, getting the people you’ve got to get, the people you’ve got to deal with on a day-to-day basis, and then not only that, all the stuff that’s actually inside the boxing ring, the things that you have to take care of, and then he’s saying this? It just shows his character, doesn’t it?”
Hrgovic pointed to his long amateur career and hard fights in the World Series of Boxing as examples of paying dues that Itauma has not had to.
But the stories of Itauma being involved in hard sparring sessions, aged 16, with world champions, have already become part of British boxing folklore. They wouldn’t have all been easy.
It’s just his journey has been different to the 34-year-old Croat’s.
“A hundred per cent,” Itauma agreed. “I’m not saying one story is better than the other, but, obviously, Hrgovic is already far into his career. I’m still at the beginning. Hrgovic has done it. I’m not saying one is better than the other, but I just think we’ve lived different lives and I can appreciate his story.”
Itauma doesn’t agree with the privileged tag that Hrgovic wants to dress him with.
“He had like, of course, he’s had to do extra,” said Itauma. “I think the second the bell goes means you’ve got to go, isn’t it? He’s had a tough route, but he ain’t started from scratch.
“He also had an Olympic medal, which obviously, they don’t just hand them out. With that Olympic medal, there came already a bit of a head start whereas there are certain guys that would have had to start from scratch. Small hall shows, probably even unlicensed and X-Y-Z. Filip Hrgovic still started with a head start because of an Olympic medal, which he did achieve, which he did earn. But I wouldn’t say that he has had the toughest route to where he’s got to. I think he was very fortunate to get the decision over Zhilei Zhang. Had he not got that decision, would he have got all the fights that he’s had now? Do you know what I mean?”
And while the veteran might be short on respect for what Itauma has done to date, the same cannot be said the other way around.
“I think he’s got one of the best résumés in heavyweight boxing currently,” Itauma added.
“If you’re talking about heavyweights, if you’re talking about beating David Adeleye, he did get the decision over Zhang, beat Joe Joyce, beat Dave Allen. He had a very good fight with the world champion [Daniel Dubois], and I had him up on the cards before he got stopped.
“He didn’t get stopped because of anything he had control over. It was a cut. I think he’s probably got one of the best résumés in boxing now.”
Itauma and his team had pre-camp prep recently in Marbella before they lock in solely on Hrgovic.
The heavyweights came head-to-head this week at the press conference to announce the fight.
Asked what Marbella had been like, Itauma smiled: “Training, training, more training. That’s the only thing that we did.”
He did, however, allude to some partying.
“Do you know what it is with training camps abroad? It’s like everything picks up, and everything gets multiplied. So it’s like, if you’re training, you’re training. Once you finish training, you’ve got training again. So you train twice a day, and then you’re in Marbella, and you’re not just going to go to sleep. So it’s the late nights and early mornings that do everyone, and there’s only a few of us that actually finished the training camp. Maybe a good 60 per cent of the people had to return home on a Tuesday. [But] I’m finishing my camp here [in England]. We’re leaving Marbella in Marbella.”
