Moses Itauma studying the Art of War as he prepares to commence world title battle with Filip Hrgovic

MOSES ITAUMA is studying the 2,500-YEAR-OLD Art of War as he heads into battle with Filip Hrgovic. Itauma’s first world title fight commences on Saturday at London’s O2 Arena against 34-year-old Croatian Hrgovic. Moses Itauma is studying the Art of War as he heads into battle with Filip Hrgovic Itauma facing off with Filip Hrgovic ahead of their heavyweight world title fight Credit: GETTY It is remarkable for a young man only 14 bouts and three years into his professional boxing career. But his brother Karol – himself only 24 – revealed his younger sibling is no normal 21-year-old. Sign up for the Sport newsletter Thank you! Watch the latest SunSport video series Part of Itauma’s maturity is put down to his love for books – with the ancient Chinese military general Sun Tzu shaping his mental warfare. Karol said on SunSport’s No Glove Lost panel: “He only got into that proper reading recently. “More like how the mind works and stuff like that. Yeah, so Sun Tzu The Art of War and stuff like that. So more like mental. “He got it probably from his older brother. He reads a lot.” Itauma has the chance to become the second youngest heavyweight champion of all time – behind only Mike Tyson who broke the record aged 20 in 1986. In fact, the Chatham sensation has boxed a total of just 31 rounds in his career – never going past the sixth. Most read in Sport BEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS The Home of Boxing in 2026 There's a massive year of boxing ahead! It’s shaping up to be a blockbuster year of action inside the boxing ring. The Gypsy King has beaten Mariusz Wach in his second fight of the year to set up a huge fight with Anthony Joshua And AJ did the same, knocking out Kristian Prenga in the second round of a thrilling encounter – the Brit was knocked down twice in the opening round. Now fans are looking forward to Moses Itauma’s return for his toughest fight yet against Filip Hrgovic in August. Here’s all the big fights coming up… August Sat 29 – Moses Itauma vs Filip Hrgovic – DAZN September Sat 12 – Conor Benn vs Ryan Garcia – DAZN *If you click a link in this boxout, we will earn affiliate revenue. Moses Itauma vs Filip Hrgovic - all the info Moses Itauma and Filip Hrgovic face off for the IBF heavyweight world title That is compared to Hrgovic, who has just a sole loss to Daniel Dubois, 28, blemishing his 21-fight career. But Itauma has always wanted to face the Croat – with big brother Karol agreeing the time is right to challenge for world honours. He said: “If you go back a few fights, like he kind of had his own little trajectory of what names he wanted. “And he even wanted Hrgovic before he wanted Jermaine Franklin. So he’s kind of always been on the team’s kind of radar. “This is the next step up, for sure. So I’m confident in him, and by the grace of God, it’s going to be a spectacular performance.” Comment now