Moses Itauma vs. Filip Hrgovic

On 22 April 2026, Sky Sports confirmed that Itauma would make his ring return at The O2 Arena, in London, on 25 July.^[3][4] Itauma’s team was deliberately postponing opponent selection until after the May heavyweight title fights to maximise his chances for a meaningful title opportunity. He was focused on the WBO and WBC title paths.^[5] On 4 May, Frank Warren stated that the event was postponed to 8 August 2026, while retaining the same venue. This rescheduling was primarily due to the announcement of Anthony Joshua's return fight on the original date, which was set to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, against Kristian Prenga.^[6][7] A favourite to land the fight with Itauma was Croatian heavyweight Filip Hrgović (20–1, 15 KOs), who was scheduled to fight David Allen on 16 May.^[8] After Hrgovic stopped Allen, George Warren, of Queensberry Promotions, confirmed the fight was a done deal.^[9] On 25 May, Warren stated that Itauma would instead return to Manchester, rather than The O2 Arena.^[10] On 18 June, it was announced that Itauma would fight Hrgović on 29 August at The O2 Arena.^[11][12] During the launch press conference, Hrgović criticised the rapid rise of Itauma, arguing that Itauma’s career had been “given” to him through strong promotional backing and favourable opportunities. Hrgović contrasted Itauma’s path with his own, stating that he had taken a much harder route to elite level.^[13][14] Itauma responded that "He's almost 14 years older than me and we're still in the same position. He doesn't know anything about me to comment on that. At the end of the day the position I'm in wasn't given to me. I still had to beat and overcome challenges."^[15] In July 2026, the IBF ordered Itauma and Frank Sánchez to begin negotiations for its vacant heavyweight title, giving both sides until 29 July to reach an agreement. The title had become vacant after Oleksandr Usyk relinquished the belt, along with the WBA and WBC titles. Sánchez earned the IBF’s #1 ranking after stopping Richard Torrez in a title eliminator, while Itauma was ranked #3, with the #2 position vacant. The fight being ordered came at a strange time as Itauma already had a fight scheduled with Hrgović.^[16] On 4 August, the fight was elevated to be contested for the IBF title. Sanchez was paid step-aside money, while retaining his status as mandatory, as Frank Warren assured that he would "get the opportunity to fight for the title against the winner."^[17][18] Heading into the fight, Itauma was a 1/6 favourite, while Hrgović was a 7/1 underdog.^[19]

Ariel Helwani criticised DAZN's decision to place fight on pay-per-view. Speaking on Uncrowned, Helwani argued that boxing was prioritising short-term revenue over long-term athlete development, stating that upcoming boxers should be made more accessible to casual audiences rather than being placed behind multiple paywalls. Helwani compared Itauma's career stage to that of Anthony Joshua prior to his first pay-per-view headline appearance, again arguing that Joshua had benefited from years of exposure on television before being expected to generate pay-per-view sales. He stated that despite Itauma being regarded as one of boxing's leading heavyweight prospects, he had not yet reached the same level of public recognition.^[20]

^Note 1 for the vacant IBF heavyweight title ^Note 2 for the BBBofC British and Commonwealth Boxing Council welterweight titles ^Note 3 for the WBO Global heavyweight title