Moses Itauma and Filip Hrgovic will fight for the vacant IBF heavyweight title on August 29 at The O2 in London.
The belt became available after Oleksandr Usyk vacated his heavyweight titles in June. While the WBC, WBA and WBO championships were awarded elsewhere, the IBF title remained without a champion.
Promoter Frank Warren confirmed that Queensberry reached an agreement with mandatory challenger Frank Sanchez to step aside. Sanchez has been promised a fight against the winner.
Itauma enters after stopping Jermaine Franklin Jr. in the fifth round in March. At 21, victory would make him the second-youngest heavyweight world champion in history, behind only Mike Tyson.
Hrgovic represents the toughest test of Itauma’s career. The 2016 Olympic medallist has lost only once as a professional, when his 2024 fight with Daniel Dubois was stopped because of a cut.
“I never see him in trouble. I never see him get punched or dropped,” Hrgovic said. “I will test if he is the real deal or not. I believe I will beat this guy and become heavyweight champion of the world.”
Image Credit: ESPN