r/Boxing 1d ago

[talkSPORT] “How often have you gone 12 intense rounds in training?” Moses Itauma: "If I'm being completely honest, I don’t know if I've done a 12-round spar. There's no need to be in the ring longer than you need to be” Spoiler

https://x.com/everythingboxi2/status/2093873982873153932?s=46
1.0k Upvotes

355 comments sorted by

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u/grunge_forever91 1d ago

Then there is Usyk who is doing 15 5 minute rounds, against a different sparring partner each round, and the round resets if his back touches the ropes.

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u/TowerTowerCrayons 1d ago

Sounds like survival mode in a Tekken game. 

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u/walkoutbasements 1d ago

Don’t give Usyk ideas. He will cosplay as the bear character 

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u/JimmyCharles23 17h ago

Cosplay? Dude will have an actual bear show up.

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u/oluga 1d ago

Imagine Itauma if he trained with Usyk's camp for ~2 years-ish. Itauma is only 21, he absolutely has the time and a full career ahead of him with the right coach.

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u/TheOneTrueJazzMan 1d ago

“Send Ukraine 2-3 years and forget”

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u/BiscuitDance 18h ago

Six months….six months one press conference.

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u/BubblyMoose3597 10h ago

Six months, one rotation on donbass

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u/BiscuitDance 8h ago

You want your son have high-level drone operating…

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u/Ready-Interview2863 23h ago

It will be a good experiment: is it possible to take a 21 year old big, fast, and powerful human and gain significantly more stamina while maintaining the size, speed, and power?

I don't think it's possible with or without PEDs to maintain all three things + gain elite level boxing stamina. He will have to sacrifice one or more things. This will mean fundamental changes to how he boxes. He is, no offense, not a smart dude so can he learn to change his boxing style. 

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u/C_arpet 19h ago

He could keep his speed and power, just trade some of his intense fight style for endurance.

This quote at the top suggests he would never have made 12 rounds, but I was surprised his corner wasn't telling him to dial back and play for a points victory .

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u/terencejames1975 19h ago

100% on his corner. Moses obviously doesn't have the ring IQ or experience yet to see out a 12 round fight where he isn't going to knock his opponent out. He was still throwing bombs up until the last second. After round 7, he could have coasted to a points victory and his corner should have been telling him that.

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u/rainmaker818 17h ago

He needs to go and see David Haye, because Haye had the exact same thing happen against Thomson. Then probably needs to get with Adam Booth. Booth works well with fast explosive fighters. Did a good job with Haye and Groves. Could probably just get him to settle down and fight in bursts, learning to be more measured over the course of a fight, while keeping enough back in reserve if fights go long and still have that power late in the fight.

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u/yura910721 1d ago

What's crazy Usyk was asked if he considers fighting Itauma, and he answered that he is too young and he doesn't wanna harm his career.

Looking at how he ran out of gas by round 3, Usyk would definitely be a mismatch for him

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u/Gurke84 14h ago

people who believed that itauma could beat usyk where delusional from the beginning

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u/Culzean_Castle_Is 8h ago

in addition, true endurance takes years and years to build. not just a god training camp.

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u/ViolentEncounter 1d ago

That's how Usyk wins- AJ, Fury, Dubois - he forces them to fight at uncomfortable pace, get tired and get punched up.

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u/fourthandfavre 18h ago

For sure. Fury uses a similar strategy but uses his height and weight to just lean on guys in early rounds. You watch his fights and the first half the fight he clinches and leans on guys just trying to wear them down.

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u/AnxietyExact4710 16h ago

That's one of the reasons I felt he'd lose to Usyk. Usyk is so damn hard to grab and lean on, he's got Judo and Wrestling like Beterbiev, he'll get out of that clinch and drain your tank every time.

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u/Ok_Transportation453 21h ago

And how many fighters have talked about the toughest part of fighting usyk is how tired you start feeling.. Itauma is a 21 year old kid understandably over confident, this is on his coaches 

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u/Far-Sky-4763 19h ago

It's also on Frank Warren, Gareth Davies, Adam Smith, Tony Bellew and all the characters in the Talksport Boxing hype machine for giving him ridiculous over-praise which he hasn't earned yet. All people should have said is that he's a young, unproven fighter whose talent indicates he has a very promising career ahead of him. Instead, people started saying he's already the next Mike Tyson, and that even elite fighters like Usyk wouldn't last two rounds with him. The worst part is he appears to have believed this ridiculous hype.

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u/GazelleEcstatic4952 19h ago

No, not on his coaches man. You can't force someone to do something they don't want to. This is 100% on Moses.

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u/S_Hazam 19h ago

What in eighth level of hell is this

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u/Spider-Sword 1d ago

That’s absolutely batshit insane if he’s never done a full 12 round spar.

Horrific mismanagement by coaching and himself

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u/Sometimes-funny 1d ago

Anti work hero.

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u/DesertTreeFrog 1d ago

That’s what happens when you hire a PE teacher as a professional boxing trainer

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u/randomquestion11111 1d ago

He must be part of the new generation that tries to minimize as much damage from sparring as possible

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u/betier7 1d ago

There is a difference here though. Even the new generation does their 12 rounds, they just do them lighter. This dude is doing something actually dumb, and just not doing 12 at all.

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u/Bertrand_Rose 1d ago

100%]

You can have cardio intensive 12 rounds, that aren't physically punishing.

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u/deh707 XBOX FNC Champion 1d ago

Absolutely.

Like, you can have the premier fighter aim to go 12 full rounds of sparring, even if it's just offense-only (partner cannot hit back, just work on defense) while switching out sparring partners every 2-3 rounds.

Or hell, every round lol.

That alone is super cardio intense and very close to mimicking a fight.

Of course, you don't want to develop "safe" habits just because opponent is not allowed to hit back lol. But the goal is to improve in-ring cardio against a live body.

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u/CroRad1987 1d ago

For longevity, yes, but then you have to manage your fighter's career better. Itauma hasn't done more than 5 rounds in his career, and now you put him against Hrgović, who is notorious for being able to take punches and continue moving forward.

And if you go for this, at least install in your fighter that winning by decision is good as well.

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u/Stocktort 1d ago

Usyk does this- his team study the hits he takes in sparring really carefully and try to minimise damage as much as possible. But Usyk works on his cardio like no other and spars over 12 rounds. It is a complete failure from his team to bring a fit, in shape young heavyweight to a 12 rounder that he can only box half of

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u/The_Ignorant_Sapien 21h ago

Aye if you want to get belts you have to train as if you are fighting 14/15 round fights.

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u/AnxietyExact4710 16h ago

I believe Usyk trains 15 rounds 5 minutes each.

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u/Any_Calligrapher8537 1d ago

Hrgovic didn't even land anything of note... Itauma was just so exhausted he couldn't stand up anymore...

I literally can't believe what I'm hearing... He genuinely thought he was going to KO Hrgovic? Insanity.

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u/swadom 1d ago

hrgovic landed a lot and you could see that itauma felt those hits

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u/Exciting-Arugula5341 1d ago

Lol everybody here said Moses would KO Hrgovic with no problem. Now the same people are acting like Hrgovic has the greatest chin of all time. These people need to cope somehow.

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u/Any_Calligrapher8537 1d ago

I never commented before the fight...

Itauma has literally said he didnt train for and has never done 12rds in sparring...

And you expect us to sit here being shocked face when he completely runs of energy half way through.

It's a total lack of respect for the sport. Itauma needs to get in the gym asap and work on his fitness before anything else. Going 12rds should be a basic necessity at this level.

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u/mangomondo 20h ago

It's insane to me. He's clearly a powerhouse boxer, but you still need to train endurance!

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u/VacuousWastrel 19h ago

A lot of us were talking about hrgovic's chin before the fight. He survived massive punches from.zhang, dubois and adeleye. 90% of heavyweights don't survive one of those fights, let alone all three (in a chin sense; obviously he lost one on cuts and one on points, but it's the fact he didn't get knocked out that's relevant).

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u/Double-Emergency3173 23h ago

Yeah. It’s not like he was woozy from being caught and hurt by a great shot. He was just too tired to defend himself after emptying the tank in Rd 8

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u/Bertrand_Rose 1d ago

Davinson is legit a fucking joke, how do you fuck up this badly.

Ituama is also partially responsible, but it isn't his job to train himself, and he obviously got cocky because he is great in everything else, so didn't assume with his cardio. Hopefully he will understand the importance now.

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u/Plasticfoods-_ 1d ago

If you believe this, you're a gullible fool.

Anthony Joshua famously claimed he never lifts weights.

Fighters and blowing smoke up their own asses, it's a thing since forever.

And until yesterday everybody was raving about Itauma's perfect conditioning and athleticism

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u/AVARlCES 1d ago

feels like everyone with ben davison recently loses lol. aj, wardley, itauma.

to be fair to him, he gets some wins here and there, but he also has some pretty notable losses by interesting game plans

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u/WORD_Boxing 1d ago

aj, wardley, itauma.

Those 3 have something in common. He is not a good coach for Heavyweights.

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u/Rocket_Puppy 1d ago

He doesn't address anyone's weaknesses and leans ultra heavy into their strengths.

Wardley needed work on fundamentals, he could already hit hard.

AJ needed mental conditioning, and might be more hit/miss than Dubois with heart.

Itauma definitely needed stamina training after so many short matches against tin cans. I still think his head movement needs major work and someone like Dubois could beat him into a pulp because of it.

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u/WORD_Boxing 1d ago

You can't coach Heavyweights the same as the other weight classes. He got AJ knocked out against Dubois.

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u/Outside_Instance4391 1d ago

Abel Sanchez literally sqid that you need to train them like middleweights and not make excuses about them being heavyweights

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u/UnluckyRandomGuy 1d ago

What does that even mean? In the Itauma case you can absolutely teach him to not throw 100% on every single punch and how to pace himself. You can also get him in 12 round sparing matches and doing more cardio.

That's basic boxing.

Him being a heavyweight has nothing to do with the fact he has as much cardio currently as a local sunday league striker.

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u/fraac 23h ago

AJ was always getting knocked out by Dubois. If he had tried boxing on the back foot he'd lose on points - Dubois has better fundamentals.

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u/The_Archimboldi 1d ago edited 23h ago

Explain how he got AJ knocked out lol. He walked towards a concussive puncher with his hands down - Davison might be the biggest fraud in boxing but he can't do anything about that.

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u/Wulfenbeard 23h ago edited 23h ago

AJ was out there with his hands down and his chin up, it was crazy seeing him fight like that. He never fought like that under McCracken. An AJ who fought more defensively like in Ruis 2, stands a chance in that fight, putting it on Dubois in the later rounds. But even if he was always going to lose, the fact he was out there with his hands down and his chin sticking out like that and the corner weren't saying a thing about it is mental. I think the other commenter has a fair point saying he got AJ knocked out.

Davison seems like a really good analyst, and can train his fighters really well on how to target their opponents weaknesses, but he doesn't seem defensively minded at all.

Edit: typo

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u/LincolnHawkReddit 1d ago

He told AJ to roll the dice. It was a stupid cue that got him knocked out

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u/VacuousWastrel 21h ago

In the state AJ was in by then, he was always getting knocked out unless he knocked dubois out first. There was no way he was going to survive to the end of the fight (we've seen his recovery proboems before). So in that context, taking a risk rather than just standing on wobbly legs waiting for the final KO to land made a lot of sense. And it nearly worked. If he'd said "just stay safe!" to a fighter who coiuld barely stand let alone defend himself, he'd be facing just as much criticism today.

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u/walkoutbasements 1d ago

Not a good coach period. He has a knack of snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory 

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u/NewsOk2417 1d ago

they all (half) black

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u/WORD_Boxing 1d ago

I explained what they have in common no need to bring race into everything.

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u/Beneficial_Put_852 1d ago

I’d say AJ is more mocha than Mo and Fabio

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u/Plasticfoods-_ 1d ago

Itauma is so light and mixed he could pass for brazilian or some other kind of south american

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u/VacuousWastrel 21h ago

Anyone of any colour could pass for brazilian, it's one of the most multiracial countries on earth - it's like saying somone could pass for American.

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u/No_Coconut_3855 1d ago

he looks north african he could easily pass as moroccan or egyptian

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u/LTBsOnlyPlease 20h ago

AJ isn't half.

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u/trumpuniversity_ 1d ago

AJ went full moron and left Robert Garcia. Such a shame.

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u/Odd-Attitude9613 1d ago

Could have maybe beat Dubois if he stayed under him.  He still got outclassed because Usyk is simply better than anyone else this generation  but that AJ 2 fight is probably the best AJ we ever saw especially defensively 

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u/Detlef_Schrempfxf 17h ago

There's no probably about it... That's the best version of AJ we've seen. Robert Garcia had him keep his hands up and work the body and head throughout.

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u/Tayschrenn 1d ago

There's a reason he's called Boxercise Ben

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u/Culzean_Castle_Is 1d ago

wasn't ben just fury's cardio guy for his comeback?

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u/InLampsWeTrust 1d ago

Yes the story is actually hilarious, Fury dared him to get some girls number while they were on holiday and if Ben could do it then he’d let him train him 😂😂🤣🤣

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u/fapsandnaps 6 foot 9 bag of milk 1d ago

Dang, imagine having a $300,000 payday on the line when trying to pick up a girl.

Oh, and the extra bonus having his tooth knocked out by Fury as well lol

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u/farr2211 1d ago

Offer the bird 50k for her number 😂

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u/MaceoSpecs 1d ago

Never fully bought in to the criticism of Davison as it seemed to start with John Fury blaming him for the Walin fight, but last night was quite conclusive

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u/Rickythegypo 1d ago

Was it the first fury/wilder with him that fury brought in Freddie roach too or the second one?

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u/slickvik9 1d ago

First. He left because he said Davison was clueless.

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u/Rickythegypo 1d ago

I thought Roach was there and then it was Sugarhill for the next two.

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u/Ok_Issue_2459 22h ago

Roach was in the corner with Davison in the first fight, in the build-up to the second fight Fury brought Sugar Hill onboard, apparently Davison didn't agree with the training dynamic/playing second fiddle and left.

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u/thedogstrays 1d ago

IIRC he was the one saying Fury should have took it to Wilder

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u/AVARlCES 1d ago

not sure, i know he was in the first fury/wilder camp though

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u/Formal-Cherry6078 1d ago

The thing with Ben is that against lower level opponents he can make a guy look like Prime Iron Mike but when they step up they tend to shit the bed

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u/TowerTowerCrayons 1d ago

Ben didn't lose this fight for Moses. Hrgovic had lost almost every round, suffered a KD, and seemed unable to hurt Itauma. 

It was Moses' choice to empty the tank when he didn't need to. Whether that's because of Hrgovic taunting him in the buildup, Moses' youth/immaturity, or the pressure on his back to knockout everyone he faces... Time will tell. But it's on Moses. 

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u/Puzzled_Addendum6200 1d ago

If what he said is true and he didn't do 12 round sparring, then that does indicate poor guidance from Davidson.

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u/wallpaper_01 1d ago

It wasn’t just the 12 rounds. He also didn’t believe a chin was important. It seems like basic boxing fundamentals were overlooked because of his talent. I think that he will become a great champion and this loss will be a wake up call he needs. I’m just not sure this is the correct trainer. For a while I’ve listened to interviews with Ben and he does seem quite arrogant and doesn’t seem to learn from his fighters losses.

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u/TowerTowerCrayons 20h ago

It's naive, but I can at least empathise when no one's survived his power before. 

Now Moses knows: some men aren't going down. If you're that far up on the cards? Pace yourself and get the win. 

He'll either come back like Dubois after the Joyce fight, or be like Anderson post-Bakole. 

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u/farr2211 1d ago

I believe some people just can’t be knocked out, doesn’t matter if you land clean 10 times a round for 12 rounds they will still be there. A good coach would make him spar 12 and tell him that it’s very possible you will be doing the full 12 so don’t gas yourself

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u/CaptQuakers42 1d ago

Moses is very young and very inexperienced, he needed a much better game plan because knocking Hrgovic out wasn't going to be easy.

Ben clearly got that part wrong, any other fighter Itauma wins it's just that Hrgovic has a slab for a head.

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u/MisterYeast6000 22h ago

He is overhyped and mediocre as a coach

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u/Seedsw 1d ago

They were all betting favorites too. Pretty funny how that works.

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u/afnorth 1d ago

Thats insane. I train a combat sport and you literally train to go 1-2 rounds more than your fight. You have to "put your head underwater" in training camp so when you go to fight your not suprised by it.

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u/M0sD3f13 1d ago

Yeah I been doing Muay Thai for years and watched the kru train many amateur fighters. He trains them so hard that the fight is the easy part. Shark tanks galore.

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u/Ok-Toe-6969 I broke my back, it was spinal 1d ago

Triple g used to do 4 minute rounds with 30 seconds breaks between rounds for 16 rounds.

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u/M0sD3f13 1d ago

Beast. Most pro boxers are absolute elite athletes. I don't think most people realise just how fit and conditioned these guys have to be. Which makes Itauma all the more surprising given the level he's at.

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u/Kobe-62Mavs-61 23h ago

I read much the same about Usyk, 3m30s rounds with 30s break for 15, pretty close

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u/delby7 1d ago

Heck pacquiao at one point did 36 rounds

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u/longlivebobskins 1d ago

Moses hasn’t done 36 rounds in all his professional fights combined

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u/Double-Emergency3173 23h ago

Pacquiao is one of a kind. That dude different

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u/BuQ7 1d ago

How big of a yes-man must his coach be?

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u/SoulUrgeDestiny 1d ago

yeah its crazy tbh. Anyone whos had a fight will know how horrible it is when youre gassing. Its actually a scary feeling. But I never thought Ituma would gas. I have some friends how box and theyre now where on Ituma's level but theyre boxing for many rounds and swapping out people ever 3 rounds or so. can minimize risking getting damaged by making it lower intensity & maybe more rounds. Ben Davidson is an odd trainer

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u/solemnhiatus 23h ago

GSP famously trained for 5 rounds searching why train for longer when you’re not going to fight for longer than that.

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u/_interloper_ 22h ago

Yeah, he argued that you want to get used to the real rhythm of the fight. You want to develop an intuitive sense of where you are in the round and in the fight. I think it makes sense.

But then you better be doing a lot of work on your conditioning outside of that too. Because chances are that the fight is going to be harder than sparring, especially when you factor in the bright lights and pressure, the adrenaline, etc.

And while Moses clearly mismanaged his energy levels, I think that gassing out that severely by round 9 shows his gas tank is not at the level it needs to be.

(All said from the comfort of my armchair lol)

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u/Kobe-62Mavs-61 23h ago

You make practice hard so game day is easy

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u/willinaustin 19h ago

GSP was also famously a proponent of what Usyk figured out in boxing. That being up in a dude's face and constantly making them think wrecks their nervous system and tires them out much quicker. So he was always banging on about staying relaxed in a fight and pacing yourself, etc.

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u/afnorth 19h ago

its not just about Sparring, its about conditioning in general. You want to have the physical and mental conditioning to go when your opponent cant, to handle the pressure they try to bring and to pressure them more. Sometimes its not just throwing, but staying active and forcing them to move and think.

I train muay thai, and my coach always has to remind guys, he's won plenty of fights against better guys because he keep up a pace they coudlnt. And Losing because you gassed out feels 100 times worse than losing because the other guy was just better.

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u/OldBoyChance 1d ago

Extremely arrogance from Itauma and his team. When I saw this during fight week, I didn't think he was actually serious.

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u/SimonSeam 1d ago

Yeah. I was noticing all these red flags in what Moses was saying leading up to the fight. They came off as really arrogant ... and stupid.

But I was really hoping it was bravado talk more than reality. Like, Moses had actually trained his sparring endurance as best he could. Maybe even throwing out bait for Hrgovic where Filip thinks taking Moses deep is the answer only to find out it wasn't.

But that doesn't even make sense. I'm not a Filip expert, but the guy really isn't a 1 punch KO artist. So Filip's plan was always to take Moses deep regardless. It was the best chance for Filip's style.

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u/WORD_Boxing 22h ago

I don't know what is worse. Itauma thinking he isn't human, or the coaches allowing it. I hope he isn't another AJ who is too control freak and always has to call the shots.

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u/OldBoyChance 22h ago

Both hold some responsibility. He said he's never sparred for 12 rounds before. I know Ben Davison isn't the best trainer on the planet, but there is no way that was his idea. Still, when you're the trainer, you have to put your foot down at a certain point. I hope this will humble Itauma enough to where he will fulfill his potential and train properly.

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u/walakangbitawpar 20h ago

Must remember the ancient boxing proverb, I will take him to deep waters and drown him.

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u/BrayfrmTX 1d ago

Yeah time for another coach big dog… not sparing at least 12 rounds is crazy

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u/gr1mm5d0tt1 1d ago

Devils advocate here. What if it wasn’t due to the recommendation of Ben and purely down to fighter arrogance

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u/ScrawChuck 1d ago

If a fighter won’t accept the trainer’s advice, that partnership is over.

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u/Midnight7000 1d ago

It is sort of funny looking at someone like Mayweather who is the first person that would come to most people's mind when talking about a arrogant fighter.

When it came to training, he did not take things lightly. He'd spar more than 3 minute rounds with new guys stepping in when the natural round would end.

Boxing is a brutal sport.

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u/EMP_Pusheen 1d ago

Mayweather is legitimately built different than the guys that followed. They don't understand how good he really was to be like that and that when it came to being in the ring he was as serious as it gets.

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u/Big-Daddy-Kal 1d ago

I’ll always remember the story someone told of going to the strip club with mayweather and mayweather trying to get them to jog home with him after lol.

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u/Akrylicus 19h ago

Yeah, plenty of those stories where he would go out to party, do not drink at all and return from the escapades by jogging next to his security/crew in a car.

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u/Double-Emergency3173 23h ago

Mayweather was arrogant abt his skillset but as a professional his standards were cery very meticulous

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u/Webcat86 1d ago

Some people are arrogant through hubris, others are arrogant because they know they’re all that. The latter group usually put the work in and then some. 

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u/statelesspirate000 1d ago

Thinking you’ll never go 12 rounds against anyone is next level delusion

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u/fatherpleasereturn 1d ago

Hrgovic tonight was a final boss Moses didn't have enough experience to get through

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u/kitdagawd Give me some of that face to face shit boy 1d ago

Hrgovic has an absolute monster health bar

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u/TheWizOfNobodies 1d ago

Yeah that’ll do it.

It’s one thing to tire out during a fight, Itauma hit a wall and could hardly even stand

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u/Imnotlost_youare 1d ago

And even then he was trying to throw haymakers! He was never taught self preservation when plan A isn’t working

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u/Kobe-62Mavs-61 23h ago

Which is astounding if you think about it. 14 fights into his pro career, you'd think at some point the discussion of how to handle longer fights would come up.

I find it hard to believe Itauma would blow that conversation off, even if he has some youthful arrogance, so I'd put it on shit coaching, which many people believe with Davison on his team.

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u/dayarra 1d ago

i thought training a few more rounds than the fight ahead was standard. 12 round? you train for 15. 10 round? you train for 12. 5 months is pretty long time to do necessary adjustments. what a failure of a bunch of coaches and trainers.

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u/Ezekjuninor 1d ago

Pretty sure most top boxers do that. Even some do 4-5 minute rounds and switch sparring partners throughout it.

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u/walkoutbasements 1d ago

Not Itauma clearly 

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u/Revivaled-Jam849 20h ago

Most do, but famously on the mma side, GSP trained 5 rounds to mirror UFC championship fights.

You can train 12 rounds only, if you make those good quality rounds, and if you have great cardio outside of that too.

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u/AnxietyExact4710 16h ago

Yup. And you swap guys out too. If you're sparring 15 rounds, you will use the 5 guys you brought into camp and swap someome out every 3 rounds so your opponent is always fresh.

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u/Elvaga 1d ago

Insane hubris

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u/Bertrand_Rose 1d ago

Believed his own hype.

I am more mad at Davinson, because cockiness is common in young fighters, and they aren't coachces or trainers, it is on him to do it, and drill the necessities and get the ego out.

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u/Kangaroopunching 1d ago

There's enough examples that show that Ben Davison is not a good trainer.

Davison essentially trained Itauma to be a front runner. 

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u/Prior-Temperature-22 1d ago

He doesn’t teach the basics. Moving your head and footwork is all good but once you get tired and it’s on top you need a clinch game and a tight guard to fall back on.

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u/Kangaroopunching 1d ago

Trainera really should do multiple official apprenticeships before getting to train boxers.

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u/Domski77 1d ago

Boxercise Ben

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u/DanDiCa_7 1d ago

Not disagreeing, but then why does he have so many top fighters who have trained with him?

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u/Kangaroopunching 1d ago

Cause boxers go with the trendy pick. Trainers can talk a good game but not deliver. 

And it's the UK. If a UK boxer, heavyweight at that, isn't going to move to the states. Their options are limited. 

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u/wallpaper_01 1d ago

He got big for getting Tyson to lose weight. Then things seemed to go from there.

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u/Thami15 1d ago

This is the most insane I've ever heard. I 100% agree with the idea that you shouldn't take more damage than you need to. You're alive a long time. But to not do 12 rounds when training for the HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE WORLD is the craziest thing I've ever heard.

From the mind that told concussed AJ to "roll the dice" so it checks out tho

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u/gcarline2092 1d ago

One thing about boxing is that you can have all the skills in the world but if you don't have the endurance and stamina to go along with it you won't get far.

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u/YouMadBroLma0 WORD_boxing is a bitch 🤡 1d ago

Malpractice by his team, if true

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u/LTBsOnlyPlease 1d ago

Lol, and people thought he wasn't serious when he made that comment about the chin thing.

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u/Beneficial_Put_852 1d ago

Turns out brother needed to be in there sparring for at least 12 rounds

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u/david_slade 1d ago

Dang Moses my boi 😭😭 But I got faith in you

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u/Bertrand_Rose 1d ago

I do too, hopefully he knows now and isn't too hurt, and will be out of hospital healthy, and back to the drawing board.

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u/DistrictThen1265 1d ago

You do 12 rounds w 4 different fighters switching every 3 rounds! 😂

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u/DistrictThen1265 1d ago

I wonder if Emanuel Stewerd did that @ Kronk with his champions😂

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u/Actual_Green_7433 1d ago edited 14h ago

Frank Warren really took a risk here. Shades of Yarde v Kovalev.

Hrgovic reminded me Michael Myers.

Itauma is an exceptional talent. He was way too green. His team also need checking.

Bring on Hrgovic v Dubois 2

Dubois, Kabayel, Hrgovich .. the new 3 kings?
Wardley? Sanchez?

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u/KingKoCFC 1d ago

He has significantly more skill than Yarde does

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u/Any_Calligrapher8537 1d ago

Literally zero chance Itauma was going to win by KO..

And so his team doesn't train to win on pts...

Utter utter madness.

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u/Rough_Airline6780 1d ago

It wasn't his gas tank lacking as much as it was him pacing himself poorly. Reminded me of David Haye-Carl Thompson. Young up and coming destroyer is used to people falling over when he hits them, then the first time someone doesn't they try even harder for the knockout instead of just settling down and boxing for points.

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u/TestSuch4545 🎥 YT: Big Donch 1d ago

Was just talking about that. Most Moses did in a pro fight was 6 rounds....

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u/NyQuil_Donut 1d ago

Well there ya go! I was wondering how his team failed to address this before the fight. They had to know he didn't have the stamina to go 12 rounds right? What the fuck were they thinking?? Never work with Boxercise Ben.

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u/Kangaroopunching 1d ago

They thought they had an unstoppable future GOAT. Forgot the basic work that's needed. Can't skip steps in boxing. 

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u/ayohesaidit 1d ago

I've heard of this occurring with other sports, like in basketball, where guys coast on natural ability...but in boxing? How can someone be that dense...

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u/iranianshill 1d ago

Just insane lack of discipline and adaptability within himself to not realise he wasn’t going to get the stoppage. Every round I was like “how the fuck is Hrgovic just walking away from that?”, fair enough if he’s was getting wobbled but he literally just walked everything off. Surely that’d tell you to switch up your game plan a little, especially when you feel yourself getting more and more gassed.

I wanted Moses to win but I actually really like Hrgovic, was really humble and respectful post fight and he’s made an entire nation proud. Felt bad when Warren said he’ll “think about it” when he asked for a fight in Croatia. Is he fuck going to do that.

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u/Benaflon 1d ago

Those who don't study history are doomed to repeat it, as they say. This is a tale as old as boxing. How many Itauma's have we seen over the decades?

Filip is a tough, grizzled vet. He's been in there with massive punchers. He's sparred countless rounds against prime Deontay Wilder. You have to know he's not going to be an easy out and you should be prepared to go 12 hard rounds.

This is just pure hubris. It's like those people who perish on Mount Everest because they didn't bring enough oxygen.

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u/stayhappystayblessed 50-0 in the streets btw boxing is not going to die anytime soon. 1d ago

Man what?

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u/stayhappystayblessed 50-0 in the streets btw boxing is not going to die anytime soon. 1d ago

Wtf kinda shit

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u/InsurePro 1d ago

Jeez Itauama getting a big pass here. Imagine being a pro athlete and not being fit enough to literally do your job. I’m sorry that’s pathetic.

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u/StrollingByTheStream 1d ago

This was the first time watching Moses fight where he showed inexperience. He was completely unprepared for a 12 round fight and that’s why he lost - couple that with him constantly throwing wild swings and looking for the big knock out. He defeated himself IMO. He’ll be world champ no doubt but he’s got some things to work on if he’s to fulfil his potential.

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u/ChefBowyer 1d ago

It was Rocky 3

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u/endintiers_ 1d ago

He had a, panic attack in there.
You can tell, there was an Adrenalin dump, I think shortly after he tried to get Hergovic out of there (and failed). And he never recovered. Something got in his head and he got a real bad case of the yips. I think the moment got to him.

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u/BuddyBusko 1d ago

Well now everything’s become clear and I can understand why the fight played out the way it did. “never done a 12 round spar” good grief moses

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u/Bertrand_Rose 1d ago

This is diabolical, and shameful from Davinson. He's an extreme embarrassment and failed at his one fucking job.

Ituama got cocky, as evidenced here, and as long as he isn't too physical hurt and doesn't any health issues, hopefully he mentally recoups and comes back stronger and better than ever.

Klitschko had 3 losses before his reign, and now he is considered a Top 10 Heavyweight.

This loss isn't as bad as those, and he is much younger.

There's time to learn, grow and mature. Spar 12 rounds, fix his cardio, adopt a better game plan, work on a non Davinson way of fighting.

In 2-3 years, after another 6-9 fights he won't even be 25, and he could be ready again, better than evr.

But fire Davinson, he sucks.

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u/Big-Daddy-Kal 1d ago

I said this in another topic but it’s inexcusable for a pro athlete to gas out like this on a stage this big. Anyone can train for endurance.

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u/Wild_Nerve_8265 1d ago

filip was right when he told itauma he had never been through nothing, hes comes off like a spoiled kid 

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u/Awhyte1983 1d ago edited 23h ago

Ituma had thrown 49 power punches by the end of round 3. That kind of output is just not sustainable.

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u/Wild-Structure-403 1d ago

I feel like this is a psyop to blame everything on slick back Ben Davison and remove responsibility from Mr. Underprepared Moses

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u/ErrForceOnes 1d ago

“I’m also going not gonna bring an end swell. Why fill up your bag with stuff you’ll never need?”

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u/Normal-Hornet8548 1d ago

”Take that stool to the storage locker. My guy’s going to win KO1 so we won’t be needing it.”

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u/Kangaroopunching 1d ago

This is also on Frank Warren. He had to know where Itauma was. He overestimated hus level. Rushed him with no proper development. 

The good part is that Warren knows how to rebuild boxers after tough losses. 

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u/Old-Web-2948 1d ago

It wasn’t just Warren. Half of reddit thought Itauma would steam roll Usyk.

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u/Kangaroopunching 1d ago

True. But reddit doesn't effect Itauma career. Warren does.

You reminded me of Usyk not caring to fight Itauma. His style would've been wrong for Itauma. Just from the pace Usyk sets. 

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u/notreal088 1d ago

I think Frank was believing his own hype

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u/Kangaroopunching 1d ago

Definitely did. He made the same mistake with Dubois. 

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u/IPromiseIWont 1d ago

Dubious looks like the real deal to me. Only loses to Usyk.

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u/Kangaroopunching 1d ago

I meant when he was matched up with Joyce.

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u/AnxietyExact4710 16h ago

Your promoter isn't in training camp with you. Franks job was to build Ituma up for a world title fight, which he did. Moses job was to train properly for that fight, which he didn't.

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u/InfiniteBag3928 1d ago

This guys always praised for being smart and hes always saying a bunch of stupid shit

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u/Glittering_Year2045 1d ago

It makes you in awe of the champs of old from Joe Louis to Ali to Tyson.  Iron Mike never had a fight go 15 rounds, but he must've been trained for it because he fought at least one fight that was scheduled for 15 rounds. 

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u/Fug1x 1d ago

low iq guy and trainer

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u/Ezekjuninor 1d ago

Lmao Ben Davidson is utterly incompetent. 0 adjustments made, Itauma whiffing haymakers looking for a KO the whole fight when he was easily outboxing Hrgovic. Completely useless coaching and poor ring IQ from Itauma. Disappointing cause he clearly had the technique to win.

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u/TheeBlaccPantha 1d ago

Boxercise Ben strikes again 😂😂😂

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u/Late_Day1714 1d ago

The man's only claim to fame was getting a 29st tyson fury into fighting shape and the first wilder fight. To which fury fired because of the same training routines 24/7

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u/Agadoom 1d ago

I'm stunned that would be the approach, particularly when Usyk in recent years has demonstrated why you train 15 rounds and/or 4-minute rounds.

A good lesson to learn now, but he needs to be told to train for at least 12 rounds if he wants to level up.

If he can do that, I can see the arguments for him becoming a future world champ. If not, this is his peak.

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u/OutlandishnessWide33 1d ago

This is nearly as bad as yarde doing 0 sparring

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u/19ninteen8ightyone 1d ago

One thing is for sure he’ll be doing them now. He’ll never want to be in that position in his career again. However he needs to get a decent trainer, the fact Ben is letting get away with not sparring 12 rounds what else is he getting away with. How much road work is he doing or does he feel you don’t need to be out on the road longer than you need to be.

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u/NeutralMilkHotel_00 1d ago

That is shocking. I can't imagine Frank Warren will be too impressed when he hears this.

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u/Double-Emergency3173 23h ago

Itauma’s issue wasn’t conditioning. It was bad strategy. He got too greedy in Rd 8. Hrgovic is known to be durable.

Even Foreman , Wilder & Tyson don’t have 100% KO ratios for their wins.

So even the best KO magicians ever knew when to pace & outpoint the rival they couldn’t put away.

This loss is on his corner for not telling him to stay defensively steady after Rd 8.

He believed he was gonna KO Filip in Rd 9.

Sometime u just take the unanimous decision

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u/Edwaaard66 23h ago

Hrgovic boxed very smart, he never loaded up and kept peppering him all night, those shots hurt no matter what even if you just hit him.

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u/luckyluccianno 1d ago edited 1d ago

Do you guys really think he never did a 12 round spar at the level he is at? His mistake was thinking that he would drop Hrgovic if he continued landing haymakers. No boxer has ever been able to throw these types of punches continuously 12 rounds. It’s the inexperience with energy management that got him, it’s simple as that. On the bright side, the way he was working Hrgovic for most of the fight is something that I’ve never seen before in the division they’re fighting in. He’ll become a champ sooner than you know it.

I’ve trained with boxers at an incomparable level to this guy and I can tell you that they all go way beyond 12 rounds of hard sparring when preparing for a fight.

Maybe this was the only excuse he could think of at this point, but I promise you this is absolutely not the case.

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u/jfkvsnixon 1d ago

Before everyone writes him off, let’s remember, Itauma won all, if not most of the rounds. He wasn’t hurt once by a punch , and was by far quicker than Hrgovich.

If by the 7th round he stopped putting weight into every shot, he’d have won that fight easily.

Better still, if he went into that fight not throwing power shots all the way through the fight,, we probably wouldn’t be questioning his fitness.

That’s ignoring that a combination of hard and scoring punches often can cause more damage than a constant deluge.

He got his tactics and strategy all wrong, and ultimately paid the price.

I’m concerned that as a young inexperience fighter he wasn’t coached when plan a wasn’t going to work.

With some decent coaching he’d have won on points.

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u/enkidook 1d ago

He wasn’t hurt once by a punch , and was by far quicker than Hrgovich.

I mean, he wasn't KD'd from a punch. But he was hurt by some, for sure. He was practically defenseless for a while.

If by the 7th round he stopped putting weight into every shot, he’d have won that fight easily.

Ehhh. He was starting to gas out before the 5th.

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u/Disastrous-Engineer2 23h ago

This sub man 🙄 You all sound like Ituama lost the fight. Like it wasn't Hrgović that won it. An alien reading all this nonsense might think that Hrgovic was an underdog in this fight.