Moses Itauma’s World Title Fight Confirmed
Moses Itauma and Filip Hrgovic’s fight on August 29 in London will now have the vacant IBF heavyweight world title on the line.
Itauma (14-0, 12 KOs), 21, is a British contender who has finished Dillian Whyte and Jermaine Franklin in back-to-back fights, edging closer to a championship shot.
A former Olympic bronze medalist, 34-year-old Hrgovic (20-1, 15 KOs) rebounded from a knockout loss to Daniel Dubois by beating Joe Joyce, David Adeleye and Dave Allen to set up a summer showdown with Itauma.
Itauma’s promoter, Queensberry boss Frank Warren, confirmed the news on Tuesday.
Should Itauma succeed, he’ll be the youngest heavyweight world champion since Mike Tyson, who won the world title aged 20 years and four months.
Victory over Hrgovic will crown Itauma aged 21 years and eight months — younger than the next-youngest heavyweight world titleholder, Floyd Patterson, and five months younger than Muhammad Ali.
The IBF had initially positioned Cuban boxer Frank Sanchez to fight Itauma for the vacant title following Oleksandr Usyk’s decision to drop the IBF belt.
Warren said Queensberry paid Sanchez “step-aside” money to forego the fight, with Sanchez next in line to face the winner instead.
Other fights on the Itauma vs. Hrgovic card at The O2 in London include Sam Noakes against Denys Berinchyk and Constantin Ursu versus Ben Vaughan.