‘I had a headache for days’: Hrgovic reveals brutal toll of Itauma world title fight

Filip Hrgovic said he ‘received a lot of shots and was bruised’ during his win against Moses Itauma. Photograph: Peter Cziborra/Action Images/Reuters View image in fullscreen Filip Hrgovic said he ‘received a lot of shots and was bruised’ during his win against Moses Itauma. Photograph: Peter Cziborra/Action Images/Reuters ‘I had a headache for days’: Hrgovic reveals brutal toll of Itauma world title fight ‘I didn’t celebrate. I went home to rest. It was a hard fight’ Hrgovic stopped Briton to win the IBF heavyweight title Filip Hrgovic, the new IBF world heavyweight champion, has offered a candid insight into the ordeal he endured before beating Moses Itauma in a shock stoppage victory last month, revealing he absorbed so many heavy punches in the first eight rounds that he felt headaches for a number of days afterwards. “I felt fucked up,” said the 34-year-old Croat. “I received a lot of shots and I was bruised. I had a bit of a headache for a few days. On the Wednesday after the fight I was back in the gym, working out already, but for a few days I felt really tired and bruised, with some headaches.” Jack Dempsey v Gene Tunney at 100: when a great champion met his greatest inquisitor Hrgovic, who aims to unify the heavyweight division, said there was a chance he would face Rico Verhoeven, the Dutch fighter who used to be a world kickboxing champion, on the undercard to the much-delayed bout between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury that is expected to finally take place in Cardiff on 11 December. But revisiting the aftermath of the brutal Itauma bout which changed his life, Hrgovic said: “I didn’t celebrate. I just went home to rest. It was such a hard fight I didn’t even do my tradition after I win, when I go to McDonald’s. I didn’t have the strength.” Hrgovic believes Itauma is so skilful that, if he learns from his painful defeat, the 21-year-old British prodigy can become unbeatable: “He’s really good. Very fast, very talented and he countered whatever I tried with his speed and timing. I never was in the ring before with such a talented kid, with such a fast guy. You have some fast guys but they’re small heavyweights. You can handle them with your power but this kid is fast and big.