Hrgovic Ranks Itauma Below Dubois, Zhang and Adeleye for Power

Filip Hrgovic has a message for everyone who's spent the last year hyping Moses Itauma as the scariest puncher in the division: the 21-year-old never hurt him. The newly crowned IBF champion says three previous opponents — Daniel Dubois, Zhilei Zhang and David Adeleye — all landed with more authority than the unbeaten 14-0 (12 KO) prospect did back in August.

That August fight was a wild one. Itauma blitzed Hrgovic early, dropping him in the second round and controlling the opening stretch of what looked like a changing of the guard. Then the gas tank emptied. By the eighth, Itauma was hunting a finish he couldn't close, and Hrgovic — chin intact, legs under him — turned the tables for a ninth-round stoppage that made him Croatia's first world heavyweight champion.

Fast Hands, Not Heavy Ones

Speaking to The Stomping Ground, Hrgovic was quick to credit Itauma as the best fighter he's ever shared a ring with, pointing to his speed and ring IQ. But he drew a clear line between slick and sledgehammer. He said Itauma landed clean shots he didn't see coming, yet never actually buckled him. For raw power, Hrgovic ranked others above him.

The one that raises eyebrows is David Adeleye, who Hrgovic says delivered the single hardest punch of his entire career. That's a notable call given Dubois and Zhang are both bona fide knockout merchants — Dubois carries a 22-KO record and currently holds the WBO belt after stopping Fabio Wardley in the eleventh, while Zhang has 22 stoppages of his own across a 27-3-1 ledger. Hrgovic beat Zhang by unanimous decision in August 2025, so he's felt that power firsthand and lived to rate it.

What's Next

There's no rest for the new champion. Hrgovic now faces a mandatory defense against Frank Sanchez, the #7-ranked contender who sits at 26-1 (19 KO) and just iced Richard Torrez in two rounds. Sanchez isn't the volume threat Itauma was, but he's a problem in his own right.

As for Itauma, the loss doesn't erase the résumé — he's still ranked #6 and only 21, with a TKO of Jermaine Franklin before the Hrgovic fight. The knock here isn't that he can't punch. It's that stamina, not firepower, is what cost him. Fix the engine and the ceiling stays absurdly high.