Itauma (14-0, 12 KOs) will face Hrgovic (20-1, 15 KOs) in the toughest test of his career at O2 Arena later this summer and the pair have engaged in an unexpected war of words since the fight was announced.

Hrgovic has claimed that Itauma is a new-school fighter who has had everything put on a plate for him by Queensberry Promotions, while he has had to come up the hard way. He even suggested that Itauma starts his day by saying hello to the sun and kissing a tree.

But Itauma laughed off the Croatian’s accusations and defended his position as British boxing’s new golden child. “First of all, I don't hug trees,” Itauma told reporters. “And I don't have a nutritionist.

“But if he says I’m new school and he is old school ... is he going to be fighting guns with a knife? Come on, the new school always prevails.”

Itauma is considered one of the hottest properties in British boxing history given his incredible success as an amateur, which included a World Youth gold medal, and his equally searing start to life as a pro.

His 14 victories have included stoppages of established, durable heavyweights like Mariusz Wach, Dempsey McKean, Dillian Whyte and, most recently, Jermaine Franklin.

He added: “I don't get treated the way I am for no reason. There's obviously something about me that Queensberry push.

“And it's not about what I have done, but what I could do. I feel like with every fight I have, I'm proving to them that I am capable of what they think I'm capable of.

“Have I been treated like a golden child? I wouldn't say so, because it's not for no reason. I've knocked everyone out in the first or second round. Jermaine Franklin has never, ever, ever touched the canvas and just come off a victory over Ivan Dychko and I've splattered him in five rounds.

“When you say golden child, it makes it seem like it's a privilege. I wouldn't say that I've been privileged in boxing.”

And what of Hrgovic’s suggestions that everything has been “put on a plate” for the Slovakia-born puncher?

“Did they put Dillian Whyte on a plate for me? No. I had to do a whole training camp," he said.

“He's a fighter himself so it's just disappointing that he's saying this because going through a camp, spending the money you've got to spend, getting the people you've got to spend, getting the arseholes you've got to deal with on a day-to-day basis, and then not only that, all the stuff that's actually inside the boxing ring, the things that you have to take care of, and then he's saying this. It just shows his character, doesn't it?”

Hrgovic argued that he had to come up in the shadows, given how marginalized boxing is in Croatia. He said when he also won World Youth gold, nobody cared, whereas it provided Itauma the perfect launch pad.

But, on the contrary, the British southpaw says Hrgovic has also enjoyed his fair share of leg-ups over the course of his boxing journey.

Itauma said: “I'm not saying one is better than the other, but I just think we've lived different lives and I can appreciate his story.

“He's had a tough route, but he hasn’t started from scratch. He also had an Olympic medal, which they don't just hand out but with that Olympic medal, there came a bit of a head start. Whereas there are certain guys that would have had to start from scratch, whether that was on small hall shows, probably even unlicensed.

“Filip Hrgovic still started with a head start because of an Olympic medal, which he did achieve and earn. But I wouldn't say that he has had the toughest route to where he's got to.

“I think he was very fortunate to get the decision over Zhilei Zhang. Had he not got that decision, would he have got all the fights that he's had now?”

Despite being disappointed by Hrgovic’s pre-fight chat, Itauma is well aware that the 34-year-old represents the toughest test of his career to date.

So far, Hrgovic’s only defeat has come against Daniel Dubois, the current WBO world heavyweight champion, who stopped him on cuts in June 2024.

Itauma said: “I think he's got one of the best resumes in heavyweight boxing.

“If you're talking about beating David Adeleye, he did get the decision over Zhang, he beat Joe Joyce, he beat Dave Allen. He had a very good fight with the world champion [Dubois], and I had him up on the cards before he got stopped.

“He didn't get stopped because of anything he had control over. It was a cut. I think he's probably got one of the best resumes in boxing now.

“Of course, it is a step-up, a big step-up for me and Hrgovic is my toughest opponent and I’m not shying away from that.”