Filip Hrgovic, the newly crowned IBF world heavyweight champion, has offered a candid and arresting insight into the severe physical ordeal he endured prior to securing a shock stoppage victory over Moses Itauma last month, revealing that he absorbed so many punishing blows during the opening eight rounds that he suffered from lingering headaches for days afterward.
The 34-year-old Croatian fighter, reflecting on the bout that fundamentally altered the landscape of the heavyweight division, did not sugarcoat the toll the fight took on his body. “I felt fucked up,” Hrgovic said. “I received a lot of shots and I was bruised. I had a bit of a headache for a few days. On the Wednesday after the fight I was back in the gym, working out already, but for a few days I felt really tired and bruised, with some headaches.”
The dramatic championship encounter saw Itauma, a 21-year-old British prodigy widely regarded as one of the brightest talents in modern boxing, control much of the early action with blistering speed and tactical precision. However, after setting an unsustainable pace, Itauma ultimately ran out of energy, allowing the relentless veteran to overwhelm him and force a stoppage in the ninth round.
Revisiting the immediate aftermath of a victory that crowned him a world champion, Hrgovic admitted that the customary celebrations took a back seat to sheer exhaustion. “I didn’t celebrate. I just went home to rest. It was such a hard fight I didn’t even do my tradition after I win, when I go to McDonald’s. I didn’t have the strength.”
Despite the grueling nature of the contest, Hrgovic holds the highest regard for his vanquished opponent’s extraordinary abilities. He believes that Itauma possesses such rare skill that, should he properly process and learn from his first professional defeat, the young Briton could become virtually unbeatable.
“He’s really good. He’s special,” Hrgovic said of Itauma. “Very fast, very talented and he countered whatever I tried with his speed and timing. I never was in the ring before with such a talented kid, with such a fast guy. You have some fast guys but they’re small heavyweights. You can handle them with your power but this kid is fast and big. He’s got great IQ and great talent. If he recovers from this loss, mentally, it will be hard for anyone to ever beat him again.”
At the same time, Hrgovic highlighted the psychological complexities of elite boxing, noting that a defeat of this magnitude can break a fighter just as easily as it can forge them. Because Itauma is such a complex character, lingering doubts remain regarding his mental resilience moving forward.
“We’ll see,” Hrgovic noted. “It was a big shock for him, a big humiliation, so maybe it’s the end of his career if he’s not mentally tough. A lot of people, after that kind of loss, never come back. It will be a hard journey for him to come back but if he recovers and he does not lose his confidence then, with this experience, I think no one will ever beat him again.”
In the weeks following the shattering defeat, significant attention has focused on pre-fight comments made by Itauma, which implied that he had never previously sparred for 12 successive rounds. Hrgovic, however, believes that physical conditioning was never the decisive factor on fight night, pointing instead to the intangible elements of experience and psychological fortitude.
“It’s not about physical preparation. It’s about experience and mentality,” Hrgovic explained. “If we go for a run now, or we’re in the gym together, he’s in tremendous shape. He will beat me in every exercise, running, hitting the heavy bag. I think he was physically ready but it’s the mental part. It’s experience.”
To illustrate his point, the new IBF champion drew a sharp contrast between his own traditional, uncompromising training regimen and what he views as the overly scientific and modern approach adopted by Itauma’s camp.
“You have to go through a ruthless, hard training camp. You need to go through hell to be mentally ready for this shit. Old school is the best school,” Hrgovic said. “I told Itauma this before the fight. He’s drinking water, hugging trees in the morning, saying hello to the sun. He does a lot of this bullshit. He’s surrounded by 10,000 yes-men, nutritionists and a coach for sleeping. You can’t get ready for a war this way.”
That war nearly ended in defeat for the Croatian contender. Reflecting on the tactical battle inside the ring, Hrgovic acknowledged a lingering sense of professional pride regarding how thoroughly he was tested during the first two-thirds of the bout.
“I’m still kind of angry because he outboxed me,” Hrgovic admitted. “In my whole career, in 20 years of boxing, I was never outboxed in any sparring or any fight. I was always competitive. But this kid outboxed me. On that night, I think he will beat anyone apart from myself. But that night I refused to lose.”
Looking ahead to the next phase of his career, Hrgovic is already setting his sights on unification and the possibility of adding further accolades to his resume. Looking beyond his recent grueling defense, he noted that there is a distinct possibility he could face Rico Verhoeven, the Dutch fighter and former world kickboxing champion, on the undercard of the much-delayed blockbuster bout between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury, which is expected to take place in Cardiff on December 11.
Above all, the newly crowned champion is reveling in his position at the summit of the heavyweight division.
“If I knew it would be so good I would have won the championship before,” Hrgovic said. “It’s amazing to be world champion. I want to unify the division and stay here as long as possible. I feel great.”
