Moses Itauma breaks silence after being stretchered out of arena in worrying scenes

Moses Itauma might have gone down, but he's insisted he is not out after his bout against Filip Hrgovic.

The 21-year-old was stretchered out of London’s O2 Arena on Saturday (29 August) after his IBF world heavyweight title challenge came to an end in the ninth round.

He has now spoken out about giving his all in what he described as a 'f****** good fight' and how he intends to come back bigger and better from it.

Itauma, who hails from Kent, headed to hospital as a 'precaution' in the wake of his clash against 34-year-old Hrgovic.

His promoter Frank Warren told fans that the fighter had 'done something to his leg' and was 'quite tired' after going up against the Croatian boxer.

Hrgovic himself said that Itauma was an 'amazing fighter' and put a serious shift in, but realised that he had a certain advantage over him.

"He is the best fighter I have been in with but he needs more experience, he gassed out," he said of the Brit boxer. "I knew I had the pace in my favour. He gassed out but he is one of a kind.

“I knew from the first round that he would gas out and then I would push and that’s what I did."

Moses Itauma update

Itauma seems to be thinking along similar lines too following his loss.

In a video shared to Instagram on Sunday (30 August), the sports star said: "So [Saturday] wasn’t my night.

"We attempted greatness and we just fell short to the more experienced man.

"I want to 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 want to thank the fans in and outside the arena. You guys made it a little bit more special and a little bit more electrifying than I expected.

"It was a f****** good fight and I want to thank Queensberry and DAZN for putting this show on. So God bless, take care and I’ll be back."

Itauma appeared to sport some bruising on his face after Hrgovic got a number of brutal blows in over the weekend.

He was left staggering around the ring in exhaustion after his rival took control in the eighth and ninth rounds.

It was the first time he had boxed beyond the sixth round - and in interviews last week, it was revealed he had not sparred for a full 12 rounds in training to prepare for the scheduled length of the fight.

Warren suggested the young star has some work to do before he gets back in the ring.

"That aura of invincibility, at the moment, is gone," the promoter said. "People will look at that and maybe it will make it easier to make fights for him.

"He’s still one of the most unbelievable talents I’ve ever been involved with. We’ll stick with him. He needs a bit more ring craft and needs to stop thinking about knocking everyone out.

"Somebody was saying to me this evening that Moses won’t feel he’s won the world title properly unless he’s knocked him out, and I didn’t like hearing that."

Hrgovic also said he sees Itauma becoming a 'world champion', but said he 'needs more time' before he gets there.

"My advice is to not give up," he said. "I’ve never been in the ring with someone like him, but he’s inexperienced. He needs to pace himself and adjust to professional boxing.

"You can’t box like an amateur, it’s a 12-round fight so you need to pace yourself. It’s a marathon, not a sprint."