Johnny Nelson can only see one winner when Moses Itauma takes on Filip Hrgovic next month.
Itauma has long been building a head of steam in the heavyweight division. He is just 21 years old but has already proven himself a number of times. Of the 14 fights he has had since turning professional, 12 have ended in knockout victories, and the other two have been six-round points wins.
One other man has survived until the fifth round, and that was the durable American Jermaine Franklin last time out, who had previously taken Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte the full distance when they fought.
Whyte, meanwhile, was stopped in the first round by Itauma, who will be making a big step up when he takes on former world title challenger Hrgovic in August.
Former cruiserweight champion Nelson, speaking on Fight Your Corner, backed Itauma to get the job done.
“Moses Itauma is too sharp, too smart, too young – he learns a lot about himself in this fight, but Moses stops him late on.”
Hrgovic has only lost once before, and that was by stoppage to Daniel Dubois when they met for the IBF interim heavyweight title in June 2024, though he has since claimed he was not fully fit for that fight.
He has also beaten Dave Allen, David Adeleye and Joe Joyce since that defeat and is a notoriously big puncher with 15 of his wins coming by KO so far, but a win for Itauma could lead to a world title shot in 2027.
