Moses Itauma has stunning claim debunked after Filip Hrgovic loss

Fabio Wardley has debunked Moses Itauma's remarkable claim, ahead of his loss to Filip Hrgovic, that he has never trained 12 rounds.

The Chatham southpaw was beaten for the first time in his professional career on Saturday night, despite dominating the majority of the contest. Itauma was cruising until he gassed out and was eventually stopped by the Croatian heavyweight brawler in the ninth round.

Many within the world of boxing were quick to slam Itauma's trainer, Ben Davison, for failing to prepare the Brit for a 12-round war. The 21-year-old's conditioning came into question after he spent all of his energy in the opening rounds trying to knock his foe out. Several were also quick to point the finger at Itauma's pre-fight claim, in which he hinted that he had yet to spar for 12 rounds.

But team-mate Wardley - who is also trained by Davison - has shut down those remarks. During an interview with talkSPORT, he said: "I know Moses did do twelve rounds multiple times. He did it in the build-up to the fight, not before when that interview was done.

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"There's a reason for that because you build up towards something, so he may have done eight rounders, tens, then finished on twelves. We are big heavy guys, we don't do 12 rounds sparring all the time, we wouldn't make it to the fight. You have to be savvy about how you prepare for a fight, camps are long, you have to balance it well enough."

In the days that have followed, Davison has been faced with calls to be sacked by Itauma, but Wardley has been quick to defend his trainer. He told reporters, including Mirror Fighting, on Wednesday morning: I've been overwhelmed, I think, by the amount of criticism he's received and just almost in shock of just like, I don't know another trainer in British boxing that gets so much stick after a loss.

"It makes, I find it bemusing, like it's delusional to me. So yeah, if anything, that's added a bit of fuel to me to be like, all right, fine, no worries. I'll show you what us, the team, Ben Davison, what we can all do. I'll prove it to you. I'll take that on my shoulders. I'll wear that, no problem.

He added: "He's taught me so much about boxing in terms of actually how to read it. Like if you look at my history and how I came into it, I came into it very fresh. I came into it literally just throwing hands, just thinking, oh, boxing is you punch that person or you punch him more than he punches you. But there's so many different details and nuances that I've learned and picked up over the years. And if you look at my fights, I have applied them.

"But, if you go back, if you look at me pre-Ben and look at me post-Ben, you can see the stark differences. But also that plus, using a football term, I guess, is the man management. Is knowing the guy in front of you and knowing his strengths and weaknesses.

"For me, I'm not the best boxer in the world. I'm not an Alexander Usyk. I'm not going to out point, out box, out do these guys. But I do have athletic power and a bunch of other advantages that we know how to double down on and use. And that's where good man management and a good team comes into play."