MOSES ITAUMA AND FILIP HRGOVIC TO FIGHT FOR VACANT IBF TITLE, FRANK SANCHEZ PAID TO STEP ASIDE

Moses Itauma and Filip Hrgovic square up on June 22, 2026

Moses Itauma and Filip Hrgovic, set to collide on August 29 at London, England’s O2 Arena, will now be fighting for the vacant IBF heavyweight title.

No. 3-ranked Itauma, 14-0 (12 KOs), had been ordered by the sanctioning body to face leading IBF contender, Frank Sanchez, after the bout with Hrgovic had already been signed and announced. And with the Croatian rated fourth by the organization, it has been agreed that they can instead do battle for the belt on the condition that the winner meets Sanchez in their first defense.

“We paid [Sanchez] some money,” promoter Frank Warren told the BBC. “We said whoever wins the fight, you’re not losing out and you’ll get the opportunity to fight for the title against the winner.”

The 34-year-old Cuban, 26-1 (19 KOs), had achieved mandatory status with the IBF by knocking out Richard Torrez Jnr in two rounds in May.

Hrgovic, 20-1 (15 KOs), is riding a three-fight win streak – beating Joe Joyce, David Adeleye and Dave Allen – and is regarded as 21-year-old Itauma’s toughest test to date.

Presuming Itauma-Hrgovic isn’t a draw, it means that Warren’s Queensberry Promotions – who handle both Itauma and Hrgovic, as well as WBC boss Agit Kabayel and WBO beltholder Daniel Dubois – will promote three of the four heavyweight beltholders come the end of the month. The WBA titlist, Murat Gassiev, had previously been expected to face Itauma later in the year.

"A lot of people have high expectations of [Itauma] as I have, by the way," Warren said. "We signed him when he was 16. He was an amateur. We sponsored him, and he turned professional with us.

"And he's been amazing and sort of taken the world by storm.”

The influx of heavyweight beltholders can of course be explained by Oleksandr Usyk’s decision to relinquish his three titles in June. Though the 39-year-old is plotting one last fight – likely against Deontay Wilder – the Ukrainian’s days of fighting elite opposition are over, it seems.

Kabayel and Gassiev saw their statuses rise by virtue of Usyk’s decision to step down. Dubois defeated Fabio Wardley to claim his belt after Wardley was handed the championship when Usyk gave up the WBO title last year.

The winner of Itauma-Hrgovic will be the first to claim one of Usyk’s old belts in the ring.

- BoxingScene