WHAT goes through a man’s mind as he’s being stretchered out of a boxing ring in full view of a packed arena while still fully conscious can only ever be between him and his god.

At that moment, he is being provided with a hard lesson as to the vicissitudes of life, one that most of us will hopefully never have to experience.

And so sharp are those vicissitudes when it comes to boxing that 21-year-old British heavyweight Moses Itauma entered the ring at London’s O2 Arena last weekend as the equivalent of a split new Rolls Royce, such was the inordinate hype following him there, only to leave it nine rounds later as a second hand Ford Pinto.

Up for grabs was the vacant IBF world heavyweight title, and standing in Itauma’s way was Croatian veteran Filip Hrgovic. The stage was thus set for the next step to be taken in the former’s irresistible to ring greatness.

The only problem was that his 34-year-old opponent had arrived determined not to be a part of anyone’s story other than his own. This Hrgovic made abundantly clear to anybody who cared to listen during fight week. And this he also made clear with the incredible physical condition he’d forged himself into under the tutelage of one of the finest coaches to ever occupy the sport, Abel Sanchez.

Simply put, Itauma showed up having trained and mentally prepared for a four round smash and grab. This to to add to the 12 of same he already had to his name on his 14 fight undefeated record. Hrgovic, by way of comparison, had trained and mentally prepared for the fight that would unfold after those four rounds. This was the difference between both men, and it showed.

It dictated that over the early part of the fight, Itauma peppered the big Croatian with his by now usual array of scintillating combinations. The difference was that unlike previous opponents, this one was determined to weather Itauma’s storm with the later rounds in mind.

Itauma entered the ring as the equivalent of a new Rolls Royce, such was the inordinate hype following him there, only to leave as a second hand Ford Pinto.

Thus by round nine, completely out of gas, the younger man was swinging punches less like the new Mike Tyson in front of millions, and more like the drunk member of an unruly hen party in a Darlington nightclub in front of three bouncers.

To enter a boxing ring anywhere and at anytime in less than pristine physical, spiritual, and mental condition belongs in the category of a fool’s errand. To do so for a world championship fight is tantamount to a crime.

With this mind, I recall being up close and personal when James Toney was preparing to face Evander Holyfield for his foray as a heavyweight, having already cemented his status as a ring legend at middleweight, super middleweight, and cruiserweight.

The year was 2003, the place Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, and in preparation for a fight many believed involved Toney biting off more than he could ever chew, he routinely sparred 15 rounds, utilising the services of five sparring partners, each of whom would give him three rounds each.

This he did, Toney, to make sure he was prepared to go the full 12-round distance against Holyfield if called upon. Of such training methods are champions created and legends made.

The ring is a laboratory of truth above all else, and so to enter it on the back of a lie leads inexorably to the stretcher upon which Itauma left it last weekend, fatigued to the point of collapse.

The optics of a fighter being stretchered out of a boxing ring are excruciating to behold. That Itauma did so from exhaustion having been touted as the next big thing will now dog him going forward.

How he comes back from that spiritually and psychologically is anybody’s guess, but come back from it he must in order to regain the confidence of a fan base that can be almost as unforgiving as the ring itself.

Changing tack, the bona fides of Itauma’s trainer, Ben Davison, have come in for much unkind scrutiny over the years. Disdained by some and defended by others, Davison burst onto the scene as Tyson Fury’s coach at the start of the latter’s much heralded comeback in 2018.

Davison it was who helped guide Fury to his spectacular performance against Deontay Wilder in the first of their trilogy of fights that same year. This turned out to be an epic affair to match any there has ever been in the history of heavyweight boxing.

It saw Fury climb off the canvas in the very last round to claim a controversial draw against one of the division’s hardest ever punching exponents.

Davison also enjoyed success as Josh Taylor’s head coach, which culminated in the Scot becoming the undisputed super lightweight champion against Jose Ramirez in 2021.

Both Fury and Taylor, it should be noted, opted to part company with Davison’s services thereafter, which has only succeeded in helping to curate the perception that he lacks the requisite nous to be operating at the level he does and has been for some years.

Of course, it has long been the case that to be a boxing coach is to receive little of the credit when a fighter succeeds and much of the blame when he or she does not. This we know. Yet, even so, that Itauma entered the ring to face Hrgovic with a world title on the line not fully prepared to go the full 12 rounds tells its own story.

Hrgovic’s victory was hard won and masterfully fought. This was to be his night no matter how deep the trench he would have to climb into in order to emerge victorious. On this occasion and on this stage he would not be denied. The result was him arriving as the chump and leaving as the champ. 

Such is the high drama that boxing provides.