Itauma vs Hrgovic: Dave Allen Backs Sub-3-Round KO in London

Moses Itauma tops the bill in London this Saturday against Filip Hrgovic for the vacant IBF heavyweight title, and one man who's felt Hrgovic's power firsthand is betting the whole thing is over inside nine minutes. Dave Allen, stopped in three rounds by the Croatian back in May, went on his YouTube channel and tipped Itauma to score another quick knockout — while flatly refusing to write Hrgovic off.

The stakes for the 21-year-old are unusual. A win crowns Itauma the second-youngest heavyweight world champion in history, and it would come in his first genuinely world-level test. He arrives 14-0 with 12 knockouts — an 86% finish rate — and is coming off a fifth-round stoppage of Jermaine Franklin. The #6-ranked heavyweight has been sold as a long-term ruler of the division. Saturday is where the projection meets the ring.

Allen's Read

Allen said he'll take the fight to end inside three rounds, and if he had to pick, it's Itauma doing the finishing. But he pushed back hard on the idea that Hrgovic is here to make up the numbers, calling him seriously underestimated and admitting the betting odds surprised him. Coming from someone Hrgovic just knocked out, that's not a throwaway line.

There's a case for the caution. Hrgovic has lost only once as a pro — to Daniel Dubois — and that stoppage came off severe cuts, with Hrgovic arguably ahead when it was waved off. Dubois has since only grown, now WBO champion at 23-3 (22 KO) after an 11th-round stoppage of Fabio Wardley. Losing a close, cut-forced fight to that version of Dubois is hardly a damning line on the résumé.

Hrgovic isn't hiding his intentions either. He's promised to stop the hype with a knockout of his own, and he's riding the confidence of that R3 win over Allen in May. So the London main event splits neatly: the prodigy chasing a record and a statement, the veteran spoiler convinced the market has him wrong.

The margin matters as much as the result. If Itauma finishes Hrgovic in the traditional fashion — and especially if he does it inside nine minutes, exactly as Allen predicts — the last doubts about whether he belongs in the division's top tier disappear. Do it any slower, or not at all, and Hrgovic's underdog label suddenly looks like everyone else's mistake.