Nigerian-born heavyweight boxer Moses Itaauma is stable and recovering at home after his discharge from hospital following his ninth-round knockout by Croatia’s Filip Hrgovic during their International Boxing Federation (IBF) title fight on Saturday, Sports247 reports.
A statement by the youngster’s management outfit, Queensberry Promotions, disclosed warmly, ‘Moses is well,’ with confirmation later coming from the boxer that he was discharged from hospital on Saturday night and is now with his family, while recovering from his devastating defeat.
This comes after Itauma was rushed to hospital after slumping under a barrage of punches from Hrgovic, who recovered from a second-round drop to gain control in the eighth round and pull off a dramatic comeback, after trailing all evening long on the judges’ cards.
The 21-year-old Itauma unleashed a relentless barrage of punches on Hrgovic throughout his dominant seven rounds and led in all the exchanges toe-to-toe, but the 34-year-old Croatian weathered the storm before seizing control in the eighth round.
Things changed in the ninth round, as Itauma staggered across the ring, obviously fatigued, thereby forcing the referee, Howard Foster, to step in, and the Nigerian-born youngster’s trainer, Ben Davison, threw in the towel at the same time, after which the Brit was rushed to hospital.
While Hrgovic stood triumphantly in the ring as IBF’s new heavyweight champion of the world, Itauma had to be rushed on a stretcher out of The O2 Arena in London, but his promoter, Frank Warren, has now revealed a very comforting update about his ward.
Warren admitted that Itauma suffered from exhaustion and a suspected leg injury, but stressed that the decision to take him to hospital was only a precautionary measure and insisted that there was nothing to be wary of about the fighter’s condition.
“Moses has gone to the hospital for a check-up. He’s done something to his leg as well, and he was quite tired. It was a high-paced, fast fight for both the guys. It was just edge-of-your-seat stuff all the way through.
“It’s precautionary that he’s gone to the hospital. That’s what we always do to make sure, because the most important thing is the boxer’s health. He’s there, and he’s in the best place. We’ll see what happens when I’ve got a report. We’ll obviously let everybody know.”
Itauma added on social media: “We attempted greatness and we just fell short to the more experienced man. I wanna say congratulations to Filip Hrgovic on his win and, although I never reached my desired outcome, I believe I gained experience that I’ll take to my future fights.
“I wanna thank my fans in and outside of the arena. You guys made it a little bit more special and electrifying than I expected. It was a good fight. I wanna thank Queensberry and DAZN for putting this show on. So, God bless, take care, and I’ll be back.”
