Moses Itauma has a world title fight in two weeks. Eddie Hearn is already looking past it to the man he thinks beats him.
Hearn told FightHype that Teremoana Teremoana, the unbeaten Australian he promotes, is the fight for Itauma, while being clear he expects Itauma to get through Filip Hrgovic on August 29 at the O2.
I think that is the fight. Listen, Moses is already there, although Hrgovic is his first real test. I think that he wins and I think that he wins well, but it is a real test because he has never really fought a world-class, top 15 guy.
He has had some solid opponents but Hrgovic is a legit top 15, top 10 guy, but Moses is very good and I rate him highly. The thing is, you have got to have that speed of foot and Teremoana has got it, but he has also got that power and he has got that strength.
Teremoana returned the interest with less politeness. He told DAZN that Itauma does not have the frame for him.
When I think of him, he’s too small. He won’t be able to match me. My attributes are better. I’m a real heavyweight, 120 kilos. I walk around trying to lose weight basically.
Both men have the same gap in their record. Itauma is 14-0 with 12 knockouts and has never been past the sixth round. Teremoana is 11-0 with 11 knockouts, nine of them in the first, and has been beyond the second twice.
That is what Wednesday is meant to address. Teremoana faces DeAndre Savage in a ten-round main event at The Star on the Gold Coast, his first time headlining. Savage is 35, 11-1 with 11 knockouts, and lost on points to Brandon Moore last September. His trainer, former super welterweight champion Tony Harrison, used the press conference to ask what happens when Teremoana reaches the fifth round, given nobody has taken him there.
Hearn has said other unbeaten Australian heavyweights turned the fight down before Savage took it. Teremoana weighed 267 pounds on Tuesday. Savage came in at nearly 297.
