'Unbelievable' - Stephenson & Bellew react to Hrgovic's stoppage of Itauma

Shakur Stevenson and Tony Bellew believe Moses Itauma showed enough in defeat by Filip Hrgovic to suggest he will become a heavyweight world champion.

Itauma made a fast start at London's O2 Arena and controlled large parts of the contest for the vacant IBF title, but eventually ran out of steam and was stopped by Hrgovic in round nine.

The Briton's speed and power caught the eye early in the bout but once he broke new ground - going beyond the sixth round for the first time in his career - the wheels began to come off.

Hrgovic was outpunched in every round until the decisive ninth when he seized his moment to become Croatia's first heavyweight world champion.

BBC Radio 5 Live's coverage of the night ended with Richie Woodhall, Ronald McIntosh and Steve Bunce offering up one word each to describe the night.

"Unbelievable," added commentator McIntosh, while Bunce signed off with "unforgettable".

Relive Hrgovic's dramatic stoppage win over Itauma to claim IBF heavyweight title

Many expected Itauma, who stepped into the ring with a perfect record of 14 wins as a professional, to be coronated as the next British heavyweight star - although Hrgovic was rightly touted as his biggest test to date.

Aged 21, Itauma was seeking to become the second-youngest heavyweight world champion of all-time and Britain's second-youngest world champion.

But lack of experience against a seasoned Hrgovic proved Itauma's undoing.

Hype around Itauma has been building since winning his pro debut in just 23 seconds in January 2023.

A string of highlight knockouts - winning 12 of his previous 14 bouts inside six rounds - had propelled the Chatham fighter to world-title level in quick fashion.

Despite coming up short against 34-year-old Hrgovic, he is still being tipped to reach the pinnacle of boxing's glamour division.

"Unbelievable talent and skills," four-weight world champion Stevenson wrote on X.