Moses Itauma August Opponent Set

The excitement around unbeaten, rising British heavyweight Moses Itauma remains and after weeks of negotiating, Croatian contender Filip Hrgovic will be his opponent on August 29th.

Queensberry Promotions and DAZN announced the fight Friday afternoon for then O2 arena and to be offered on DAZN PPV.

The 21 year old Itauma, 14-0, 12 KOs, is arguably the top young heavyweight in the world and is currently ranked #1 by the World Boxing Organization. In his most recent outing, Itauma delivered a devastating knockout victory over American heavyweight Jermaine Franklin in late March at Manchester's Co-op Live Arena.

The win was particularly impressive given Franklin’s durability; in his only two previous defeats, he had gone the full distance against former two-time unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua and veteran contender and former world title challenger Dillian Whyte. But, he had no answers for the bombing, southpaw Itauma.

From the Queensberry release,

“This has got all the makings of a classic heavyweight confrontation and we were determined to get it over the line,” said promoter Frank Warren. “This fight is the litmus test Moses is ready for and it is the one he wanted. Filip believes it will be too much too soon for the young star. At The O2 on August 29th we will find out on what will be another incredible night for British boxing.”

Itauma is line to fight the winner of the Daniel Dubois-Fabio Wardley rematch for the WBO belt. Dubois pummeled Wardley in April by TKO, but Wardley has exercised his rematch clause to fight later this year.

Another complication is that if Wardley wins the rematch, he and Itauma are both trained by noted British cornerman Ben Davison. But, if Dubois wins, then the path is clear for an Itauma title bout.

That brings us back to Hrgovic.

The 34 year old just wiped out aging British journeyman David Allen last Month by TKO to improve to 20-1, 14 KOs.  Hrgovic was previously the #1 contender for the IBF before losing to Dubois in an elimination fight in Saudi Arabia on 2024.

Itauma was in attendance for the Hrgovic bout at Doncaster, England (Allen's hometown), which clearly signaled that Hrgovic is the desired opponent for him next.

Hrgovic has also scored recent contender wins over British heavyweights Joe Joyce and David Adeleye and this matchup is a massive commercial situation for Queensberry for the live gate, as well as the PPV.

Itauma is creating so much buzz, as since two of his six round fights in 2023 ended in decisions, he's ripped off 10 consecutive KOs. And, six of those have ended in the first round. He smashed British vet Dillian Whyte in the first round last August and also, Demsey McKean easily in three rounds, too.

Now, Hrgovic stands in the way. And, of course an upset by the Croat would almost guarantee him a title shot, too.