British heavyweight champion describes Moses Itauma’s fitness as "scary"

British heavyweight champ Richard Riakporhe claims Moses Itauma’s faulty fitness on Saturday was ‘scary’

Moses Itauma was beaten for the first time in his entire boxing career, having won all 38 bouts over amateur and professional.

The 21-year-old heavyweight from Chatham was superb for the opening seven rounds, peppering Croatian giant Filip Hrgovic with a variety of shots, scoring a knockdown and winning every round. But his gas tank was written off in the eighth and he was carried out on a stretcher after a savage ninth-round shellacking where he could barely stay up on his jellified legs.

The reigning British heavyweight champion, Richard Riakporhe, shared his view on the weekend's fight at the O2 in London, the 36-year-old told SunSport, “Even from round three he looked like he was gassing out. This is where you have to ensure you have the best strength and conditioning coaches and every member of your team has a reason to be there.

“Heavyweight boxing is completely different to anything else, it’s like another sport. When I moved up I changed my whole team, from coaches to strength and conditioning. You have to be ready to go the full 12 rounds every time. It’s scary what I saw in his corner. His mouth was wide open from round four.

"It’s crazy that he never sparred the full 12 rounds. You have to go through that in training camp or you just don’t know if you can do it under the bright lights. I bring in sparring partners who give me the toughest work. My body is aching all over but I am so grateful for it as you visualise those tough moments. You can’t just empty the tank.”