Moses Itauma and Filip Hrgovic meet at the O2 on Saturday for the IBF world title
Moses Itauma and Filip Hrgovic will meet at the O2 on Saturday night to contest the IBF world title. The fight has attracted attention for the stark contrast between Itauma’s introspective approach and Hrgovic’s outward confidence.
Itauma, a 21-year-old from Chatham in Kent of Slovakian and Nigerian descent, has been brooding and reflective during the build-up while Hrgovic, 34 and from Croatia, has been outwardly jovial. Hrgovic burst into a room of reporters, tanned and wearing a leather gilet, and belted out a word-perfect version of ‘‘Saturday Night at the Movies’’. Hrgovic also sought to unsettle his opponent by suggesting Itauma could be ruined by celebrity and wealth, while some pundits have labelled Itauma the most thrilling and menacing young heavyweight since Mike Tyson.
Asked whether the adulation might be premature, Itauma said: "Of course," and added: "It could definitely be too early. But I’ve always said I want to start off like Mike Tyson started, but not end up how Mike Tyson ended. "But now I’m in the shoes that Mike Tyson wore, with all the fame and accolades at such a young age, I’m starting to see why he fell the way he did. I just don’t want to make the same mistakes he made. "So I’m slowly wrapping my head round these things and that’s why I’m so heavily into books because I ain’t ever been in this position before. People are recognising me at places where I don’t want to be recognised. I want to be left alone. Coping with that takes a certain degree of mental toughness. So there is such a thing as too early, but I’m taking the necessary precautions to handle it."
Itauma described the personal strain of public attention, saying: "People grow such a relationship towards somebody that doesn’t know them. Someone might look up to me and hold me in such high regard, but I don’t even know them. And when I meet them it might be an off day where I’m not exactly feeling like I want to interact with anyone, and all of a sudden that person’s turned into my biggest hater. I respect the people that come to watch me boxing but there’s an element of my own personal space that I need. But people start thinking, just because you’re in the public eye, that you are public property, and obviously you ain’t."
On his sense of identity and early exposure to the sport, Itauma said he had frequently questioned his path: he had "thought that my life was fake anyway. Since I was 18 I felt like I’m doing something I’m not supposed to do. It doesn’t really make me uncomfortable because I need to do something and, if I’m good at boxing, then why not? It’s more the stuff outside the ring I’m uncomfortable with, like the interviews, talking to the media. If you get an average 20-year-old and an average 30-year-old, you’re going to see the difference in how they present themselves and talk. I had to do it since I was 18. So I’m trying to get rid of the narrative I created [of being reclusive] when I was 18." He added: "I just want to be authentic, whether people like me or not."
Itauma has completed only 31 rounds across 14 professional fights, while Hrgovic has been a pro for nine years and has lost once, when he was cut against Daniel Dubois after a contest in which he had "rocked and hurt" Dubois. Observers expect Itauma’s speed, movement and power to trouble Hrgovic, and the report said it would be a surprise if Itauma did not capture his first world title in conclusive fashion. Itauma admitted the personal stakes, saying: "If I win this fight it might not be good for my soul," and stressing: "I’ve got too much ego to let somebody else beat me."
Itauma recalled his upbringing and parental expectations: "When I was younger, my parents wanted me to learn something academic so I’d become a doctor or a lawyer. But when I was around 15 everybody was on the same page that I’m into boxing and this is my identity. When you’re trying to step away from that, and you’ve got people pushing you back into it, it’s very hard." Asked if he would have preferred a medical career, he said: "No, I’d much rather be a boxer. But I want to big up the NHS here. My mate broke his leg not too long ago playing football, and I went to see him. A hospital is a difficult place to turn up to every day and help the people there. I can’t imagine what doctors or nurses go through every single day. I don’t think I’d be able to do what they do." He has been studying French, his third language after Slovakian and English, between reading and training.
The IBF world heavyweight title will be decided when the two meet at the O2 on Saturday night.
