Moses Itauma needed time to come to terms with the first defeat of his career against Filip Hrgovic but is now ready to reap the benefits of that gripping night in August.

Itauma looked destined to become the second youngest heavyweight champion of all time behind Mike Tyson when he unloaded on Hrgovic at will in the first half of their IBF title showdown at The O2 Arena.

The 21-year-old had emptied the tank too early, however, and slowly exhaustion took over to enable his durable Croatian foe to force a ninth-round stoppage.

Now lined up for a January comeback against an established name, Itauma stands by his decision to aim for “greatness” by attempting to knock Hrgovic out.

“For a long time I couldn’t accept the fact that it happened because I was winning the fight so comfortably,” said Itauma, speaking publicly about the fight for the first time at the launch of Club Eight 3 gym in Chatham.

“I was so far ahead on the scorecards and then all of a sudden your body just starts shutting itself down.

“I’ve always been able to do things that other people couldn’t do. When you talk about knocking out Dillian Whyte in the first round, people couldn’t do that but I did it. Jermaine Franklin’s never looked like he’s ever been in any trouble and I knocked him out.

“So when certain opportunities arose in that Hrgovic fight, I thought this is the moment for me to do something that other people couldn’t do.

“I was at an arm’s length away from so much greatness and that was the experience that I needed to have.”

Promoter Frank Warren wants Itauma fully involved in a busy 2027 for the heavyweight division that will see the likes of Daniel Dubois, the winner of Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua and Hrgovic vie for supremacy.

Itauma will makes some adjustments as a result of his first loss in 15 fights but having dominated on the judges’ scorecards, the core of who he is in the ring will remain the same.

“The identity of being a boxer is still deeply rooted in me,” Itauma said. “Just because I lost doesn’t mean that’s going to change. I’ll be back.

“I’m always very honest about what’s happened. There’s not much that’s going to change. It’s the third round I’ve ever lost in my boxing career, it just happened to be for the heavyweight championship of the world at 21 years of age.

“All the way until a minute before the fight stopped I didn’t have a worry. It was only maybe the last couple of minutes of round nine that things just started go.

“I started moving in slow motion and he was in fast motion. And then it was like I just couldn’t do anything.

“The exhaustion had obviously kicked in. But at no point in that fight was I like, ‘oh, I’m messing up’. I still tried.

“Nine times out of 10, when people come up to me on the streets, they’re like, ‘it was a good fight’. And although I didn’t get the decision, boxing’s entertainment and I entertained. Congratulations to Filip Hrgovic.”