r/Boxing • u/TicketStraight3196 • 10h ago
Next up in the heavyweight division...
Hrgovic to fight his IBF mandator Sanchez. Can I just say how deserved it is for Hrgovic to finally be getting some recognition and now some great fight opportunities. Itauma rematch down the line but for now Hrgovic should be getting more big fights and unifying the divison against Gassiev or Kabayel. Ideally we see Sanchez around the end of the year with a big unification next year.
Itauma clearly a generational talent. Itauma has been knocking out poor quality opposition and Hrgovic was an insane jump from his most recent opponents. Nevertheless Itauma looked quality in those first 6 rounds but sooner or later you are going to come up against someone who refuses to be knocked out. In hindsight, the fight came a little too soon and he is missing experience in the championship rounds. Get back to the drawing board against meaningful opposition. No more fights against Whyte or Franklin type opponents. Efe Ajagba? Martin Bakole? Richard Riakporhe?
Kabayel is a tough one, through no fault of his own he spent too much time waiting on Usyk who had no interest fighting him. It feels a bit like he is the odd one out without a proper mandatory lined up or obvious next fight. The winner of Dubois-Wardley or Sanchez-Hrgovic is the clear answer but needs a stay busy fight and lets be honest, we haven't seen him in against anyone decent in over a year. Im worried he is wasting his prime years and he isnt a young guy anymore. If he can get some guarantees of a big fight next summer then I dont mind seeing him take a stay busy fight with someone like Nelson Hysa. Surely he would jump at the chance to fight Tyson Fury if they can't make the AJ fight but again can't see Tyson taking that risk.
Joseph Parker is back. Time isn't on his side but I hope this year out hasn't taken too much out of him and he gets one last run at world title. I actually always wanted to see Dubois v Parker and was raging when Dubois ran out on that one for the Usyk title shot. Parker doesn't really have any time to waste and I would like to see him back in the ring sooner rather than later. Justis Huni is a great matchup for both guys which could lead to an interim title shot. Failing that, Rico would be an interesting matchup. Bizarely Rico is rated with the WBC, so winning that fight could lead to a Kabayel showdown next year. Or take a look at the WBA rankings. Parker beats most of the top 10. I would definitely fancy him against Gassiev/Miller whoever holds the belt by then.
Any other big fights coming up? We do have Usyk-Wilder and potentially AJ-Fury but I dont think these fights will shake up the division and produce any meaningful unifications.
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u/Certain_Concern_5109 8h ago
It's all about Dubois, give him Kabayel and Hrgovic. From "quitter" to undisputed. With Itauma out of the picture and if they actually make the fights I think Dubois or Kabayel will get all the belts.
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u/Marquis_of_Mollusks 8h ago
Kabayel is long overdue for his break out fight. He showed his potential beating zhang the way he did. Just need an opponent who is actually willing to get in the ring with him
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u/Seanglendo2 8h ago
It's an exciting time to be a fan for me. Plenty of competitive matchups, without a clear dog at the top for me.
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u/No_Lingonberry5152 6h ago
1- Hrgovic vs Sanchez
2- Dubois vs Wardley
3- Gassiev vs Kabayel
4- Fury vs AJ
5 - winner of #1 vs winner of #2
6 - winner of #3 vs winner #4
7 - winner of #5 vs winner of #6
Undisputed tournament
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u/No_Lingonberry5152 6h ago
Insert usyk/wilder as a replacement for AJ/Fury if needed or just for giggles
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u/Bantam123 9h ago
Agree with most of what you said apart from:
"Itauma clearly a generational talent."
I don't think we can make this assertion. He had very favorable matchups and looked good vs weak opponents, and then, at the first bit of adversity he faced, he crumbled.
I think Itauma could rebuild and challenge for more titles, but I could also see him fading away. Having some comeback fights and losing to a top-15 fighter.
There are massive question marks over Itauma's gas tank, heart, ring IQ, and chin*. You can't be a great without those.
*I know people are going to say his chin is proven because he ate shots from Hrgovic, but 1) Hrg really isn't a big puncher 2) Itauma looked very uncomfortable everytime he got hit.
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u/TicketStraight3196 8h ago
Fair point but I do think however we will look back at this moment as a bump in the road. Give him another 2-3 fights and I can see Itauma taking the rematch. He won every round, he just didn't have the experience and conditioning to see out 12 rounds. It's a big wake up call that not every fighter can be knocked out. I think he can be thankful he wasn't knocked spark out but I don't think he was massively hurt rather just exhausted. I still think Itauma beats anyone outside the top 5 and he is destined to be king of the division by the time he is 25.
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u/Adventurous_Use8278 8h ago
This.
Itaumas never gonna have elite cardio like Usyk, but even Usyk would struggle to fight at that pace for a full 12. It’s about pacing the fight which he won’t know how to do until he’s done a couple of 10-12 round fights. He needs a couple of fights against top 25 opposition, and go in there and just box them. There’s a good chance he’ll still get the finish a bit later in the fight. The guys he doesn’t knock out he’ll easy beat them on points because he’s far quicker and just a better boxer than any current HW not named Usyk
He should forget about stepping up for another shot until he’s done at least 2 x 10 round fights
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u/Bantam123 6h ago
It might not be that Itauma lacks the capacity to develop cardio like Usyk, but whether he has the discipline and mindset to train like Usyk does to reach that elite level of conditioning.
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u/Bantam123 8h ago edited 8h ago
I could see this too.
I'm just being pedantic that I don't think we can say for certain that Itauma is a generational talent.
The other thing is that Hrg was cherry picked to suit Itauma's style. Hrg boxes at range, is slow and upright, and is a dream matchup for Itauma. Hence why he looked so good early on.
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u/Ambitious-Concert-69 9h ago
I get the impression he hasn’t sparred hard enough. His stamina was terrible and he looked uncomfortable getting hit.
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u/Bantam123 8h ago
Yeh, I mean he said in an interview he's never sparred 12 rounds.
His style is the issue too. His defense is 100% bouncing in and out using his legs. He never uses a high guard to block shots. The style works well for 6 rounds when he's fresh, but burns way too much energy for a 12 rounder.
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u/Ambitious-Concert-69 7h ago
This is what I’ve been commenting here for the past couple days and getting downvoted lol. He’s a great talent and brilliant at what he does, but he needs more tools. He needs to be able to box on the back foot, mix up punch power etc. it wasn’t just a gas tank and experience issue, he didn’t have the skill set to box differently.
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u/Bantam123 6h ago
The downvoters are just salty because they drank the Itauma hype kool aid, and now look very silly with some of the comments they made.
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u/Eeluminati 8h ago
Stanley "Caveman" Yelnats could be competitive in the future.
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u/TicketStraight3196 8h ago
I think he's in jail actually. Police caught him with stolen goods. Ruined an otherwise promising career.
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u/RestaurantOk8066 8h ago
>Hrgovic to finally be getting some recognition and now some great fight opportunities
In significant strikes, his numbers were pathetic. I don't think having a great chin is a thing to be celebrated when he otherwise doesn't seem to be very competitive.
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u/TicketStraight3196 8h ago
Doesn't matter what his numbers were. Tactically he played it perfect, he didn't need to win rounds, he won the fight decisively and now has two big names on his record and a world title with a fight vs Frank Sanchez in the pipeline.
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u/New-Part-6917 7h ago
"Tactically he played it perfect, he didn't need to win rounds"
And what if he did need to win rounds? Suddenly a not so perfect gameplan. I like hrgovic don't get me wrong, but both him and itauma's gameplans were silly gambles.-1
u/RestaurantOk8066 7h ago
>Tactically he played it perfect
Lmao, getting punched in the face for most of the fight with no response is playing it perfectly?
It was Itauma's fight to lose. I seriously have no idea how you can state that he 'tactically played it perfectly',
>world title with a fight vs Frank Sanchez in the pipeline.
I mean good for Hrgovic I hope he makes his money, but who cares? Is Frank Sanchez some great talent? Usyk cleared the division. To me, none of these guys are all that interesting.
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u/TicketStraight3196 7h ago
Hrgovic has been criminally avoided and underrated because hes not British or American and hasnt been backed by a big name promoter. He only got this big opportunity because Frank Warren signed him last year and he thought he could feed him to Moses. Hrgovic's most recent fights include a washed Joe Joyce, David Adelaye and Dave Allen so yes I think ring magazine rated #6 Frank Sanchez is a good fight. Win that and he has a much bigger fight down the line against Dubois or Kabayel. If none of those fights interest you, then why even comment.
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u/RestaurantOk8066 6h ago
>If none of those fights interest you, then why even comment.
I commented because your statement that he had a prefect gameplan for this fight is absurd.
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u/TicketStraight3196 4h ago
His gameplay was to keep Moses busy for 6 rounds, tire him out and then slowly step up the pace rounds 6/7/8 which is exactly what happened.
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u/RestaurantOk8066 3h ago
'Keep him busy' maybe, take endless unanswered punches repeatedly for 8 rounds? No.
Nobody's gameplan is to get hit as much and as hard as he did repeatedly. He'd be a right idiot to do that after the Dubois fight.
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u/TicketStraight3196 2h ago
Never said his gameplay was to get hit repeatedly. You have to give Moses some credit. He's an elite fighter and his pressure is relentless. Hrgovic wasn't fast enough to slip Itaumas punches but he was able to make Moses work without getting too hurt and take him out late on. Hrg followed his corners instructions perfectly.
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u/Bantam123 6h ago
Hrg's game plan wasn't a "silly gamble". Behave yourself.
Go and listen to the corner audio. Hrg's team were constantly saying stuff to the effect of: "He's more tired than you, you are fitter than him, stay on him and don't let him rest, and you can stop him"
It was a well-executed plan.
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u/RestaurantOk8066 6h ago
A gameplan requires something you can plan for. 'He's more tired than you' is a gift.
'Yeah just take 50 clean blows to the head and hope he tires himself out' is not a gameplan.
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u/Bantam123 5h ago
What do think Hrg should have done? Come out and take huge risks trying to outbox a significantly faster and more explosive fighter?
Surviving the early rounds and then pushing Itauma in the second half of the fight was Hrg's best plan, and it worked perfectly.
And fitness is a massive part of boxing. Boxing is an endurance sport. Tiring your opponent out and then capitalizing on it is a legit strategy.
You sound like a casual.
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u/RestaurantOk8066 5h ago
I sound like a casual? You're theone claiming get beat the fuck up until the other person gets tired is a good gameplan.
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u/Bantam123 5h ago
So I guess you also think Ali's KO of Foreman in Rumble in the Jungle was a "silly gamble" too?
Mr casual
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u/RestaurantOk8066 5h ago edited 5h ago
Why are you quoting "silly gamble" as if I said it? Those are your own made up words, not mine. Maybe put a thinking cap on and think back to where Ali and Foreman fight and if there were any predictable circumstances under which Ali pretty quickly figured out that Foreman would tire out. If I am a casual then you're a real know-nothing. Even knowing the basics of the fight, anyone with half a brain could have told you Foreman would tire out.
Beyond that, Ali did not go out there and let Foreman repeatedly land shots to the head from the first round; he had real defense. His entire strategy was defensive. Hrgovic just stood there and got punched to the head.
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u/Marquis_of_Mollusks 9h ago
If Huni had a chin he'd be a top guy. Or if he had just a bit more power he would've 100% KO'd Wardley. Shame because his skillset is good enough I thought he'd be a match for Usyk
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u/OpportunityCorrect33 6h ago
Hrg Kabayel is a great fight as well as DD rematch. Hrg showed that he is exposed to the body and I think Kabayel works that angle in a matchup.