Itauma vs Hrgovic for the Vacant IBF Heavyweight Title: Boxing’s Midweek Notebook

Moses Itauma’s world title shot is no longer a matter of when, but whether he can handle it. Queensberry confirmed that his August 29 clash with Filip Hrgovic has been upgraded to a fight for the vacant IBF heavyweight title at London’s O2 Arena, and a heavyweight division that never sits still just got even more interesting.

A 21-year-old on the cusp of history

Itauma (14-0, 12 KOs) has spent the last couple of years as the most hyped prospect in the heavyweight division, a 21-year-old who keeps asking for the biggest fights available and keeps being told to wait his turn. That patience is officially over. Frank Warren’s Queensberry operation secured the title shot by paying Frank Sanchez to step aside as the mandatory challenger, with the Cuban reportedly promised the winner. That is the kind of move a promoter only makes when he believes his fighter is special.

If Itauma wins, he becomes one of the youngest heavyweight champions in boxing history, a club that only ever admits a handful of names. The resume is short but sharp: he stopped Jermaine Franklin in late March, and he has barely looked troubled in a single professional round. Hrgovic (20-1, 15 KOs) intends to change that. The Croatian, who stopped Dave Allen in May, has watched all the highlight tapes and he is not buying what he calls an untested chin.

“I never see him in trouble. I never see him get punched or dropped. He’s definitely got skills and speed but to be a great fighter you must have heart, will, chin, endurance and we didn’t see that yet. Maybe he’s got all of that, but maybe not. I think I will test that. I will test is he a real deal or not.”

That is the heart of this fight: the style matchup. Itauma is a slick, athletic boxer-puncher who moves like a middleweight; Hrgovic is a sturdy, disciplined pressure fighter who has been the division’s boogeyman for years, with just one blemish on a 20-fight record. The heavyweight picture has been in constant motion since the July 25 weekend review, and this announcement is the biggest move yet.

I have gone back and forth on this one since the June press conference. Itauma’s speed and footwork should win him the early rounds; Hrgovic’s pressure and durability will make the second half miserable. But this is the heavyweight division, where one clean shot rewrites the script, and Itauma carries the kind of explosiveness that ends nights. I am taking Itauma by late stoppage, and I say that knowing full well that Hrgovic has made a career out of punishing overconfident kids. The heaviest title in the sport, held by a 21-year-old. That is a sentence worth reading twice.

Davis ducks Haney, and Teofimo is not buying it

The other big story of the week is the WBO welterweight mess. Keyshawn Davis, the mandatory challenger, officially declined the ordered title fight against Devin Haney after rejecting a 25 percent purse split, even though Top Rank won the purse bid with an offer of $2.1375 million. The fight had been targeted for October 3.

Davis’s team said the money was not right. Teofimo Lopez, whose Takeover Promotions also bid on the fight, called it something else.

“That’s insane to me… I think it was a duck. Once it gets to purse bid, if you pull out it’s a duck move because you’re basically letting whoever wants to bid on it take the fight… which I’ve never seen Top Rank bid that high in my entire career.”

Lopez has a point. You do not get ordered into a title fight against a champion like Haney, watch a promoter bid seven figures for you, and then walk away because the split is not to your liking, unless the fight itself was never the real goal. The promotional chess matches I broke down in my last midweek notebook are playing out in real time. The WBO now has to decide whether to install a new mandatory or let Haney chase a unification. Either way, Davis takes a reputation hit that he cannot buy his way out of.

Roach insists he is a thousand times better

Lamont Roach is not done. After dropping a decision to William Zepeda for the vacant WBC lightweight title, the lightweight doubleheader I previewed before the weekend, Roach told Fight Hub TV he is heading back to the drawing board, insisting he is a thousand times better than that.

He also revealed he hurt his thumb during the fight, which may explain why he never found his rhythm against Zepeda’s relentless volume. If we see each other again, the result will not be the same, he promised. Zepeda was the better man on the night, defensively sharper and busier than we have ever seen him, but lightweight is a shark tank, and rematches in that division have a way of rewriting narratives.

This weekend: three shows worth your Saturday

Saturday is quietly loaded. Aaron McKenna and Etinosa Oliha fight for the vacant IBF middleweight title in Dublin on Paramount+, McKenna’s first fight since outboxing Liam Smith in April 2025. Troy Williamson and Callum Simpson run back their December classic in Leeds, where Williamson rallied to knock Simpson down four times before stopping him. And in Orlando, Cherneka Johnson puts all four women’s bantamweight belts on the line against Dina Thorslund, who never lost those titles in the ring, vacating them during a pregnancy that sadly ended prematurely. She is back to reclaim what she never lost.

The Filipino corner

Vic Saludar reminded everyone why he is still dangerous: the former two-time minimumweight world champion dropped and stopped Thailand’s Watchanachai Thasai in under a minute on Saturday. At 28-6, Saludar keeps proving that Filipino veterans do not go quietly.

Next up, Alex Santisima faces former IBF super bantamweight champion Yukinori Oguni on August 16 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, a 10-round test against a 37-year-old who beat Marlon Tapales by decision earlier this year. And on the same night Itauma and Hrgovic fight in London, Marlon Tapales makes his featherweight debut in Ballarat, Australia, against Thailand’s Sukpraserd Ponpitak. Two Pinoy fights on the same weekend as a heavyweight title fight, with the likes of Mark Vicelles chasing gold in between, that is a good stretch to be a Filipino boxing fan.

Bottom line

August is shaping up as the month the heavyweight picture finally gets clear. Itauma vs Hrgovic for a vacant title is the kind of fight that either makes a star or exposes a pretender, and the winner steps straight into a mandatory against Frank Sanchez. Meanwhile, Davis’s duck and Roach’s defiance keep the soap opera alive below the heavies. If you missed the Zepeda and Chamberlain weekend review, catch up before Saturday’s shows start.

Me? I will have the O2 date circled and the coffee ready for the early-morning hours here in the Philippines. Some nights are worth losing sleep over.