The 21-year-old was heavily tipped to beat Croatia’s Hrgovic at London's O2 Arena and looked well on course for victory after bossing the first eight rounds.

But Hrgovic (21-1, 16 KOs) somehow withstood wave after wave of heavy punishment before turning the tide and stopping an exhausted Itauma (14-1, 12 KOs) in the ninth.

Given he won all 24 amateur outings and his first 14 as a pro, it was the first fight Itauma had ever lost in his life.

The southpaw has kept a low profile since that night but he resurfaced this week at the launch of his brother Karol’s new Kent gym Club Eight. During an interview with The Ring’s Louis Hart, he opened up on the experience.

“Even now I’m still trying to accept the fact that I lost,” he said.

“My take after the fight was from the experience and preparation I had and what I knew, tried my best and fell short to the more experienced man. So what do you want me to do? I gave it my all and didn't win that night. We go back to the drawing board, we assess it and we move on.

“To be honest, every year my life has changed dramatically. And this year it just took another dramatic turn. Not only was Hrgovic my only loss but it was the third ever round I’ve lost in my whole career and I did it at the age of 21 fighting for the heavyweight championship of the world.”

Itauma was 8-0 up on two cards and 7-1 up on the other at the time of the stoppage, when he capitulated in the final minute of the ninth. Although he never touched down, referee Howard Foster stepped in with the youngster seemingly unable to stand. He later received oxygen and was eventually wheeled out of the arena on a stretcher.

Itauma said: “When I caught him with my best shot and he kept coming forward I didn’t feel any type of way about it. I just thought that if he’s going to take my best shot, I’ll try again. We kept trying until my body kinda gave up on me. That was it.

“I watched it back two or three times. I just get annoyed every time I watch it. The best way to describe it is that I’m gutted. I’ll always say I’d rather be third than second because in third you know you couldn’t have won but when you’re second you knew that it was there for you. That’s what I’m going through right now.

“I shoulda, woulda, coulda been first but I’m 21, 16 fights in and I’m very much coming into the mid stage of my career and I’ve fought for a world title already. Hopefully in the mid and back end of my career obviously I’ll pick up a world title and other things.”

In the aftermath of the fight, head coach Ben Davison received a lot of criticism regarding Itauma’s conditioning and fight management. A video of the heavyweight suggesting he had never done 12 rounds of sparring in camp went viral the morning after the fight which only intensified the heat.

But Itauma insists his relationship with Davison and team analyst Lee Wylie is fireproof.

“Me, Ben, Lee have a good relationship, a coach-boxer relationship, so any backlash that’s coming our way doesn’t really matter as long as we have that good coach-boxer relationship,” he said. “Let the people keep talking.

“After what happened in that fight, whatever I say is going to sound like an excuse. All I’ve got to say is that I take full responsibility for that fight. Will it be the making of me? We will see. It just sounds too cliche.”