The pair traded verbals in their final face-off after hitting the scales at Spitalfields Market.

But tempers flared when they turned to face the crowd and Itauma pushed Hrgovic in the back, causing him to fall off the two-foot-high temporary stage.

But Hrgovic (20-1, 15 KOs) climbed back up, walked straight over to Itauma and planted a right-hand slap on his cheek before security guards stepped in to separate them.

Itauma (14-0, 12 KOs) admitted this week that the 34-year-old Croatian has started to wind him up with a tirade of what he described as “schoolboy banter." After the scuffle, Itauma said: “I had an itch and I had to scratch it.”

The pair meet at London’s O2 Arena for the vacant IBF heavyweight title in the main event on DAZN pay-per-view Saturday night.

Itauma, vying to become Britain's youngest ever world heavyweight champion, was the heavier of the two on the scales, weighing in at 241 ¾ pounds, a shade lighter than when he knocked out Jermaine Franklin in March.

Meanwhile, Hrgovic came in at just 236 ¼ pounds which was his lightest weight since August 2019 when he stopped Mario Heredia at 233 ¼. It means Hrgovic has shed 12 pounds in the three months since he stopped Dave Allen in Doncaster.

After the bust-up, which was quickly nullified by security, promoter Frank Warren said: “I’m a bit surprised myself at what happened. He’s not normally like this, Moses. He’s up for it and he wants it badly as does Filip.

“This is a big moment for Moses, he’s 21 years of age fighting for the world heavyweight title. This is history making stuff. He wants to stamp his authority and I think that’s what he was trying to do there."