Moses Itauma Eyes Early 2027 Return After First Career Loss to Hrgovic

Moses Itauma will be back in a ring "very early next year," promoter Frank Warren says, and it won't be the same fighter who lost for the first time in his career last month. The 21-year-old walked into his first world title shot at 14-0 with 12 knockouts, chasing history as the youngest heavyweight champion since Mike Tyson beat Trevor Berbick in 1986. He walked out with a ninth-round stoppage loss to Filip Hrgovic and a lot of questions.

The frustrating part for Warren is that Itauma was winning. He dropped the 34-year-old Croatian in round two and looked to be operating on a different clock, out-speeding a man built on durability rather than flash. Then the tank emptied. Itauma was stopped on his feet in the ninth, handing Hrgovic the vacant IBF belt in a fight almost nobody had scored his way through eight rounds.

The Pacing Problem

Gas-tank issues are the obvious diagnosis, and Warren didn't dodge it. Speaking to IFL TV, he confirmed Itauma is already back in the gym and admitted the young southpaw knows exactly where the fight slipped away. What Warren wants fixed isn't a technical mystery. It's mentality.

Warren was blunt about being unhappy to learn — via Itauma's brother Karol — that Moses wouldn't have felt like a real champion unless he stopped Hrgovic. For a 21-year-old with a 12-KO habit, that instinct is understandable. In a scheduled 12-rounder against a seasoned survivor, it's how you burn out by the ninth. Warren said he'll sit down with the team this week to go through everything and that there have to be, in his words, some serious changes.

None of this dents the ceiling. A fighter losing his unbeaten record at 21 in a world title fight is a very different story than a journeyman fading late. Itauma still ranks #6 at heavyweight, and the last name on his ledger before this — a fifth-round TKO of Jermaine Franklin — shows the finishing power was never the issue. Learning when not to reach for it is the next lesson.

As for the new champion, Warren also promotes Hrgovic and expects him to face mandatory challenger Frank Sanchez in due course. Sanchez, ranked #7 at 26-1 (19 KO), is coming off a second-round knockout of Richard Torrez and now sits directly in the path of the belt Itauma was supposed to win.