George Groves believes virtually faultless Filip Hrgovic will be a really good match for Moses Itauma

George Groves believes "top level" Hrgovic is the perfect test for Itauma

Former WBA super-middleweight world champion, George Groves, provided his view on the rising prospect, Moses Itauma (14-0, 12 KOs), who has been labelled as "The Future of Boxing".

The British heavyweight star is already ranked WBA and WBO #1 after just 14 bouts, and next fights on August 29 in London against experienced Croatian, Filip Hrgovic (20-1, 15 KOs).

Slovakian-born Itauma has already blasted through Demsey McKean, Dillian Whyte and Jermaine Franklin, but "El Animal" Hrgovic will be his biggest test to date.

The 38-year-old Groves, who is retired from boxing and working as a pundit, spoke exclusively to MrQ about his views on Moses fighting Filip at this time, "I think it is about right, because Hrgovic is a good fighter. He got beat by Dubois, but he was doing well before it, he was winning that fight up until, you know, it changed.

"But yeah, I think we saw him last time out against Dave Allen. Obviously, Dave Allen’s not a contender. You know, he’s a popular fighter, but he’s limited. And yeah, it was just a one-way demolition, wasn’t it? Three rounds in, just had to throw the towel in.

"So, I think it’s a good match for Itauma to see how he gets on against Hrgovic, who has had a couple of losses, but not a lot there, really, to fault. He’s at that top level. You expected him to challenge for a world title one day, maybe one day win one, depending on who he faces. So, I think it’s a really good match.

"Probably about the best match that can be made for Itauma right now, and yeah, we’ll see how he gets through him.

If the 21-year-old from Chatham in Kent can win on August 29, then he would become a younger world champion than Muhammad Ali was.

As Itauma and Hrgovic are currently the top ranked heavyweights in the IBF behind #1 Frank Sanchez, who has agreed to step aside for now, the winner of the main event at the O2 will be crowned the new IBF World heavyweight champion.

However, Groves feels that any comparisons to the great Muhammad Ali is not yet founded.

“Yeah, I mean, we assess Muhammad Ali at the end of his illustrious career. He had loads of, you know, ups and downs, but you have to study him. It’s hard for Itauma to be compared with him, talking about him in that respect at this stage, because he’s not won anything yet.

“I think they will every now and again. You’ll get a young talent who is very mature and an accomplished boxer.

“And they break the mould. I think the last one we saw was when Devin Haney came through; he felt like really early. These guys with star potential who don’t want to linger in the amateurs, they don’t want to go to an Olympic Games. So they’re sort of mixing with the pros as a teenager and then by the time they turn pro, they’ve whittled through a load of opposition at the start, probably in their late teens, and then are ready to rock. But I wouldn’t say it’s going to be the norm, to be honest. 

“I think these are exceptional fighters who just happen to come along every now and again.

“Sometimes circumstances play a pivotal part, and also, the incentive to stay amateur as opposed to the incentive to turn pro.

“Daniel Dubois turned pro early, wasn’t interested in boxing for England, wasn’t interested in boxing for GB, maybe wanted some money. And maybe the glamour of professional boxing is more interesting than ever, especially because fame is more interesting than ever now. 

“People want to go viral, people want to have a huge social media following. You know, in the olden days, you got that through your boxing, but now people might think, actually, I can get that without actually having big fights or hard fights or whatnot.

“So yeah, maybe guys will turn pro early, but I think in terms of the talent, it’s just when these guys come around, that’s how it is.”