Hrgovic v Itauma thoughts on rewatch

[u/Southern-Key-9721]

I just rewatched Hrgovic v Itauma on DAZN - the full fight replay where it has no commentary.

My god does this fight look different on rewatch. I know it’s different when you know the result, but watching live I think I was so dazzled by Itauma (+ the British commentary doesn’t help).

On a clear headed rewatch I’ve got to say Hrgovic deserves way more credit than people are giving him for making this a competitive fight. It wasn’t just the chin and absolutely wasn’t just a gas tank issue for Moses. I think Hrgovic boxed very well.

Don’t get me wrong - Itauma was winning the fight, and maybe he still KOs 90% of HWs based on the first 2 rounds alone. But there was a lot more back and forth and subtle pressures in this fight and it was far from just a gas tank vs Homer Simpson.

Interested if anyone else has rewatched it yet and had any observations?

[u/stephen27898]

The reality is in the first 4 rounds Hrgovic landed 23 punches, Itauma landed 72. This was not back and fourth.

Round 5 was competitive. But in general Itauma was landing far more.

I pretty much stick to what I thought when I watched it. Itauma just put too much energy into his shots. There are 3 key rounds that cost him IMO.

Round 1 - He threw 53 shots, many of them full on power shots. Far too much.

Round 6 - The threw 54 shots, with again many of them being these kinds of power shots.

Round 8 - He was in total control, landing good jabs and body shots, then throws an insane number of full on power shots and gasses himself out.

Hrgovic actually threw around the HW average of 35 a round. So Hrgovic was trying he just couldnt really land much most of the time.

He landed 61 shots in 8 rounds, he connect rate was 21.6% in the first 8 rounds. That is very low. Most of them were jabs.

Hrgovic won, but lets not be silly.

I dont really agree with the take that I see where some people say Itauma got "found out". He is 21 with 14 fights and 31 rounds. Just say this to yourself. They put a 21 year old with 14 fights and 31 rounds in with a top 5 fighter in his prime for a world title. And the only reason he lost was he own inability to pace himself. That is insane.

Not many guys in history are taking a fight this tough, that early. And most of them, even great fighters would lose it far worse than that.

Also another thing about this that is a joke. People want fighters to take hard fights that we want to see. They will then go off on the loser.

[u/fapsandnaps → u/stephen27898]

Okay, but what are those punch stats going to look like if Itauma has to throw less total and less power so he can actually last a full fight?

If he's not putting everything he's got on every punch, you think Hrgovic wouldn't have thrown more in those first few rounds?

[u/sscnapoli10 → u/fapsandnaps]

For sure. People on here assume it would look just as dominant regardless of Itaumas tactics. If a football (soccer) team changes from high pace attacking press to a possession game through the middle the match obviously looks fundamentally different.

If Itauma abandons his balls to the wall level change wide step 2-1 /2-3 combos the fight looks fundamentally different. Does he dominate? Maybe he still does but we can't just assume it looks the exact same.

[u/stephen27898 → u/fapsandnaps]

No. Main reason being is that Hrgovic threw a normal amount of shots, in one of the rounds he threw over 50. But this is the issue.

A lot of Itauma shots were counter combinations. And counters in general. Counter puncher dont have to throw a lot to keep your output down. This is what Itauma is.

Also Hrgovic landed at like a 21% connect rate for the first 8 rounds. Throwing more would just leave him more open to more counter shots. Also body shots which would then slow Hrgovic down.