'He didn't spar enough' - Itauma preparations questioned

'He didn't spar enough!' - Delicious Orie and Sam Noakes have queried if Moses Itauma did all he could in the build-up to his IBF world heavyweight title loss at the hands of unfancied Filip Hrgovic

Moses Itauma's preparations have been questioned following his devastating ninth-round TKO defeat to Filip Hrgovic.

Itauma was the overwhelming favourite heading into the bout but having dominated the opening eight rounds dramatically ran out of gas as he was stopped in the ninth.

Delicious Orie admits he was surprised by Itauma's pre-fight admission that he had not before sparred 12 rounds.

"It was experience. If I was getting a ring and knowing I've got 12 rounds ahead of me, I'm doing 15 rounds. For me, not doing 12 rounds going into a 12-round fight is crazy," he told Sky Sports.

"I guess it's each to their own. Moses boxed so perfectly but it was gradual rather than sudden. It goes back to experience. Hrgovic won that night because of it.

"He blew a gasket. This reminded me of new boxers in a new era taking strength and conditioning so seriously. You've got to find out about yourself before you get into the ring. You cannot learn on the job when it comes to professional boxing.

"I think he should have beaten Hrgovic. I wasn't in his training camps, but we've all heard it. He didn't spar enough; it's as simple as that. Just because you can lift weights or run fast does not mean you can sustain a 12-round fight. It's a completely different beast."

Not sure what happened tonight. Moses was fighting well & then gassed out it seems… at his young age this should simply not be happening. Time to rethink his training camp moving forward I think. Congratulations to Filip Hrgović becoming the new heavyweight champ.

Like Itauma, lightweight contender Sam Noakes hails from Kent and has world title ambitions.

He agreed with Orie that inexperience contributed to Itauma's first career defeat, with the 21-year-old having to be taken to hospital following the fight.

"I think it was more Itauma beating himself. With all the success he was having, I think he might have just gone a little too fast out of the blocks. He wasn't out of his depth at all. It was more that he got tired and obviously Hrgovic capitalised on it," said Noakes.

"If he'd done a 12-rounder before maybe it might have helped. It's all well and good in hindsight but he was blasting out serious level opponents. That was the next step for him. He just came up short in a world title fight at 21. That's boxing unfortunately."

Itauma was bidding to become the second youngest man behind Mike Tyson to become world heavyweight champion.