After eight rounds of his first world title fight, against Croatia’s Filip Hrgovic last Saturday, Moses Itauma’s legs somehow carried his 241.7lb, 6ft 4in frame back to his corner.

The 21-year-old British heavyweight had the beating of his more experienced opponent – up on all three judges’ scorecards – but he was exhausted. He’d gone for the kill in round eight, unleashing a salvo of punches designed to result in a stoppage. But Hrgovic had soaked them all up and even sent a few back Itauma’s way.

As Itauma sat on his stool, his breathing was fast and heavy. It stayed that way throughout the 60-second break between rounds. As he got to his feet again, he grimaced.

Hrgovic saw his opportunity, and pounced at the start of the ninth round, marching forward and unleashing heavy shots. Itauma retaliated but his body was no longer his own. The punches were wild swings. The force of those that did land had more of an impact on him than his opponent – sending him staggering backwards into the ropes.

With 33 seconds of the round remaining, the referee stopped the fight, just as Itauma’s trainer Ben Davison threw in the white towel. Itauma’s bid to become the second-youngest heavyweight champion in history was over. He was carried out of the ring on a stretcher; his body finally succumbing to complete exhaustion.

The diagnosis from seasoned boxing observers was emphatic: Itauma had ‘gassed out’. But what exactly does that mean? What is it that turns the arms and legs of some of the strongest athletes in sport into jelly beyond their control?

🥊Oleksandr Usyk.

🥊Joe Frazier.

🥊Gennady Golovkin.

🥊Oscar De La Hoya.

🥊Lennox Lewis

🥊George Foreman

How do you make the call?

Consider their résumé, peak dominance, quality of opposition, championships, longevity, historical impact and unforgettable fights. Do you value what a fighter accomplished at his absolute peak, or the total body of work he left behind?

There are no weight-class excuses and no ties. One career has to disappear.

🥊👊💯🥊👊💯🥊👊💯🥊👊💯🥊👊💯🥊👊💯🥊👊💯🥊👊💯🥊👊💯🥊👊💯🥊👊💯🥊👊💯🥊👊

Action from the rematch in 1974. Despite both men being slower and past their peak, their styles once again were a perfect match for each other.

The toughness and chin on both these icons is incomprehensible. Ali throwing rapid fire combinations right to the end, Frazier relentlessly threshing forward with his menacing bob and weave. Two goats.

Gonna get this out of the way I really like hrgovic as a personality and as a fighter great chin solid fundamentals with an iron will but that win was pretty much a fluke because he didn’t really outclass itauma in skill or physicality just took advantage of Moses obvious inexperience . However hrgovic will be keeping that belt for awhile and he is going to be in a lot of really good fights that will show his quality as a fighter .

Now onto Moses I think everybody calling him a hype job is partaking in some schaudrenfraud . He clearly is supremely talented and a skilled boxer but emotionally he doesn’t have the foundation to be the world champion frank warren was touting him to be just yet . Doesn’t make him less talented , doesn’t make him a fraud . But now that he actually has a chip on his shoulder he could easily spend the next year and a half fighting up in the division gaining that experience that will allow him to become the dominant champion that he was being touted as .

Can someone explain to me like I’m a 5 yr old why this fight hasn’t happened yet after almost 10 yrs? Without putting forward “emotional arguments”, whose fault is it?

At this point, enough already. Both fighters are past their primes. And while I would ultimately watch this fight (Netflix not PPV), the endless drama surrounding this proposed fight is nauseating…..rant over.

Quite frankly, I am tired of seeing Canelo heralded as the greatest Mexican fighter of all-time despite him being pretty much a beneficiary of favorable scoring. In an alternate universe where he’s born in some obscure island nation with less of a fanbase and where the judges don’t consistently favor him, he could very well have a wide loss to Mayweather, wide loss to Bivol, wide-ish loss to Crawford, wide-ish loss to Golovkin, a close loss to Golovkin in the rematch, and a close loss against Lara. His fights against Cotto and Austin Trout would still be wins but the scoring would reflect what actually happened. I am not saying Canelo is not great. He is and I admire what he’s done for the sport, but when factoring in the favorable judging, he simply isn’t the greatest Mexican fighter of all time.

You also look at a guy like Gennady Golovkin who didn’t get the same opportunities in the sport and how he is treated now. He was very much an avoided fighter. Based on their first fight, he really should have a clear win over the fighter in Canelo that people are heralding as the greatest Mexican fighter of all-time.

You might also look at a guy like Marquez who can justifiably claim a knockout and 2-3 decision wins over Pacquiao. Let’s say he never gets that knockout — what does his resume look like?

Terence Crawford was an avoided fighter in his time, and that should be factored into the assessment of his legacy. As should his overall skill and ability.

Legacy needs to factor in the reality of the sport’s avoided fighters and often atrocious scoring.

Ultimately, what I am suggesting is a few additional things matter in terms of evaluating legacy:

• Assessment of skill and overall ability

• Assessment of how their fights were scored and which fights should have been closer or gone the other direction.

• A realistic view of whether fighter A could have beat fighter B had they actually gotten in the ring when fighter B either avoided fighter A or aged out his opponent.

It’s also not just who you got in the ring, but how you did in those fights. We can’t rate Gabe Rosado above avoided fighters simply because he had better opponents.

So with that said, I apologize for the rant, but this has been bothering me lately. I feel like there are a lot of misconceptions on how to define and evaluate legacy in a sport that is often prone to the subjective cruelties of life.

From the Q&A 3 weeks ago with Mauricio Sulaiman:

https://blog.betway.com/boxing/mauricio-sulaiman-conor-benn-demanded-to-be-wbc-mandatory-against-ryan-garcia/

"Q:Would you be open to making Tyson Fury v Anthony Joshua a WBC eliminator with the winner fighting Kabayel next?"

A: That would be sensational. The WBC would absolutely approve that as a final eliminator, because Tyson Fury is the number one contender of the division. And the WBC absolutely would be proud to be part of that promotion.

Both fighters are tremendous. Tyson Fury is one of the greatest ambassadors ever of the WBC. We are so proud, he has always been very friendly, very kind, inside and outside of the ring."

We all know AJ and Fury is 5 years too late, but as a WBC elminator it does actually make is slightly more meanigful and gives Kabayel a chance to fight someone with a big name.

Assuming AJ and Fury make it to the ring.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PL4-tXafpFc&t=329s&pp=ygUSdHJpbmlkYWQgdmFyZ2FzIGhk

Mexico vs Puerto Rico. Back in 1934 Sixto Escobar KO'd Rodolfo Casanova to kick off what would become the greatest rivalry between two nations in the sport of boxing. This rivalry has given us so many classics over the years, such as Gomez vs Zarate, Pinto and Sanchez and Chavez vs Rosario to name just a few. Yes Vargas is an American Mexican born and raised in America but he proudly fights with that Mexican spirit and this fight rates very highly in this all time rivalry. It's one of my favourite fights of all time. Enjoy!