Moses Itauma, the heavyweight prodigy tipped for superstardom, was violently broken by Filip Hrgovic at London’s 02 Arena live on DAZN pay-per-view on Saturday The Croatian won via ninth-round stoppage but had to walk through rounds and rounds of fire to reach his glorious conclusion, which made him Croatia’s first world heavyweight champion.

With the dust still settling in east London, we identify our five main takeaways from an unforgettable night:

Hrgovic did a lot of talking during an ill-tempered fight week, but he was right about one thing. On Tuesday, he told us that Itauma (14-1, 12 KOs) had his head in the clouds and was a delusional kid with simply nowhere near enough seasoning for the battle that awaited him.

In the end, that was how it played out as Itauma, miles up on the cards, just could not close the show against his 34-year-old opponent. Hrgovic (21-1, 16 KOs) had been there and done that in grueling fights and knew he would get a chance if he hung in there long enough. This was a win about know-how as much as heart. Hrgovic admitted he had lost every round up until the stoppage and could not believe it when Itauma decided to stand and trade instead of getting on his bike and winning on points. “He didn’t have to throw a punch for the last five rounds and would have still won,” Hrgovic said.

It is difficult to convey exactly how many flush shots Hrgovic took against Itauma, who sunk hard straight lefts into the body and devastating hooks to the head almost all the way up until the dramatic conclusion. Hrgovic had sustained similar early punishment against Daniel Dubois, too, but was let down by his skin that night as he was stopped on cuts for the first and only defeat of his career in June 2024. Even so, his chin never crumbled that night and it didn’t here, either, despite a second-round knockdown from a short right hook.

When asked what his chin is made of in the post-fight press conference, Hrgovic laughed: “Croatian power, man. We always f**k you up. We are a small country, but we want to succeed against all odds.”

From here on in, whenever people compile their perfect Frankenfighter, with the power of Earnie Shavers and the defense of Pernell Whitaker, let's not forget Hrgovic when it comes to selecting a chin.

He had been hailed as the future of the heavyweight division — scratch that, of British boxing altogether given his flawless start to life in the pros. He had never lost a fight in his entire life but ended the evening rolled out of the 02 Arena, eyes closed, on a stretcher.

It is almost impossible to comprehend how he must be feeling after the night before, but it would be enough to finish most ordinary people psychologically.

Itauma has already spoken openly about his dislike for life in the spotlight and, with a few quid in his bank account from the first 14 fights of his professional career, maybe he would decide that this boxing game is not for him after all. Then again, Itauma is no ordinary person and his promoter Frank Warren is certain he will be back. At just 21, he has plenty of time on his side and could one day look back on August 29, 2026, as the night that truly made him.

Warren pointed to the likes of Amir Khan, David Haye and even Dubois himself as examples for Itauma to follow as he plots a path back into contention. It will be a long road, but the rewards will be worth it.

As soon as the initial shock of what unfolded had subsided, the inquest began and fingers were pointed. One particular clip, which did not get much traction during fight week, did the rounds on Sunday morning and led to much criticism of Itauma’s preparation under Ben Davison. During the video, which was broadcast by talkSPORT, Itauma admits he had never done a 12-round spar in preparation for fighting Hrgovic, or at any point in his life in fact. “I’m going to get slaughtered in the comments,” he said, shaking his head. This clip has aged particularly badly given how the fight ended, with Itauma clearly exhausted by the pace of the fight. Make no mistake, Hrgovic was knackered, too. You only have to watch the stoppage to see that, but he had enough in the legs to press for that stoppage. Many of the pre-fight questions had centered around how Itauma would cope if the fight went long, given he had never been beyond six rounds. Most assumed that he would have tested his staying power in camp, like a marathon runner going long during training, to see his physiological response down the stretch. Now it sounds like nobody ever did and they all paid the price.

While Itauma might face an extended period of soul-searching following his defeat, boxing has pretty much moved on already. Moments before Itauma and Hrgovic made their ringwalks, Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley had been brought together beneath the lights to kick off the promotion for their October 17 rematch in the very same arena. Wardley, who lost his WBO title to Dubois when they met in May, is also trained by Davison and the pair is already back in the gym preparing for that rematch. Meanwhile, Hrgovic already knows he must next face Frank Sanchez, who stepped aside to allow the Itauma fight to happen, but even he was talking up a unification with Agit Kabayel and a rematch with Dubois. With Itauma in hospital by midnight, the rest of the division was already looking well past him. Maybe this is a good thing for Itauma, who will be allowed to quietly regroup in his own time, but it is a stark reminder that boxing waits for no man. DAZN still have dates to fill and Warren still has boxers to promote. In the early hours of Sunday morning, I asked Warren how he will feel this week, given what had happened to his latest potential superstar. “How will I feel?” he said, as he considered his answer. “I feel that as far as what we do as promoters, we’ve delivered a spectacle tonight. That’s what we do and that’s what people pay for.”