Hrgović Enjoyed a Wembley-Style Triumph

Filip Hrgović turned a packed London arena into the setting for what Croatian boxing had long been waiting for. He knocked out Moses Itauma, the 21-year-old many already viewed as a future world heavyweight champion.

The victory carries a strong national meaning in the commentary. It compares Hrgović's success with Croatia's 3-2 football victory over England at Wembley 19 years earlier, another win remembered for defeating England on home ground.

The writer calls Hrgović's achievement the greatest event in Croatian boxing since the country became independent. It is also presented as the first time a Croatian boxer became world heavyweight champion. Only Mate Parlov, described as a European and world champion in both amateur and professional boxing and an Olympic gold medallist, is placed above Hrgović among Croatia's boxing greats.

Hrgović won despite taking considerably more punches. Rather than relying only on power, he outthought Itauma and showed him how to manage his strength more intelligently. Comments Hrgović made during fight week, including that Itauma was still a novice and would be sent back to high school, were portrayed as having come true in the ring.

The commentary says Itauma may still become world champion, as Hrgović's manager Keith Connolly predicted. But at the O2 Arena, the crowd expecting a new Mike Tyson instead saw a tactically immature fighter with impressive physical abilities. The writer concludes that England underestimated Croatian courage and paid for it with a defeat on home soil.

“

always, we Croatians mess you up!