Instead of accepting the harsh reality, Itauma is already campaigning to jump straight back into the ring with the Croatian sledgehammer.
“He is saying to me, ‘Can we get the rematch on?’ which is a natural reaction,” promoter Frank Warren told talkSPORT. “But I told him, ‘You have got to switch off from boxing, go and chill out and spend some time with your family and come back, recharge your batteries and then we get to work again.’”
Warren is completely right to slam the brakes on this suicidal idea.
“Provided he learns the lessons from the fight, I think he can go on and do great things. I would like to see him in at least one, maybe two fights and see where we go before we go [back to that level],” Warren added. “We have got to sit down with the whole team and discuss this. His manager is my son Francis, and all of us will get together to look at it.”
If Warren lets Itauma bully his way into an immediate return, he is handing Hrgovic an easy knockout victory.
Hrgovic possesses the exact blueprint to destroy the young Londoner. He knows he can eat Itauma’s best left hands, walk through the early fire, and wait for the gas tank to evaporate. Itauma has a bulky build that demands massive amounts of oxygen. His body is built for explosive bursts, not twelve grueling rounds of relentless pressure. Conditioning problems like that do not disappear overnight with a few sprints in training camp.
Stepping into the ring with Hrgovic a second time would put Itauma’s career in serious jeopardy. Getting stopped once is a harsh learning experience. Getting beaten up and halted twice in a row by the same fighter destroys a prospect permanently.
Itauma needs to listen to his promoter, take a year to rebuild against durable journeymen, and learn how to manage his energy reserves. Demanding Hrgovic right away is not bravery. It is reckless ambition that will ruin his boxing future.
