Moses Itauma sounds bitter about the criticism following his defeat to Filip Hrgovic, claiming some people were happy to see him lose. His disappointment is clear, but his response leaves unanswered whether those critics identified weaknesses he needs to correct.
The young heavyweight repeatedly insists he doesn’t care about outside opinions. Yet his comments suggest the reaction has stayed with him, particularly when it came from people he previously supported.
“I’ve seen personalities change and I’ve seen a couple people be happy that I lost,” Itauma told The Stomping Ground. “I’m like, ‘Wow.’ I was like, ‘Man, I’ve cheered you on.’”
Itauma doesn’t name those people or explain what they said. That makes it difficult to judge whether they celebrated his defeat or offered criticism he didn’t want to hear. Those are different things, and his account provides little detail to support the harsher interpretation.
Being supportive of another fighter also doesn’t require that person to approve of your performance or your corner’s decisions. Someone can want Itauma to succeed while believing his preparation or tactics need work.
Asked about criticism of Ben Davison and his training team, Itauma emphasized their healthy relationship. That explains his loyalty, but a good relationship doesn’t answer questions about what happened during the fight.
To his credit, Itauma acknowledged his responsibility.
“Ultimately I lost the fight and I take full responsibility for that.”
He also credited Hrgovic’s experience and admitted the defeat was difficult to accept. There is recognition that he encountered something his previous fights and sparring hadn’t prepared him for.
The concern is how quickly the conversation about his team becomes a discussion about other people’s personalities. If criticism gets interpreted as pleasure at his failure, potentially valuable observations become easier to dismiss.
Itauma doesn’t have to agree with every pundit. But his return will depend on correcting what went wrong against Hrgovic. Whether the people pointing it out cheered for him beforehand has little bearing on whether their points were right.
Itauma seems to be taking the criticism personally. Rather than discussing what the critics got right or wrong, he’s talking about people being happy he lost. That gives him a reason to brush aside points that might help him.
He may feel let down by people he’s cheered for, but that doesn’t make their criticism wrong. They can support him and still think his conditioning, defense, or preparation wasn’t good enough.
Calling them haters won’t fix any of that. If he dismisses good advice because he doesn’t like hearing it, the next good heavyweight he faces could punish the same flaws.
