21 настай боксчин Моусес Итаума өөрийн анхны ялагдлын дараа тулааны бичлэгээ дахин үзэхэд сэтгэл зүйн хувьд хүндрэлтэй байгаагаа илэрхийлжээ.
Филип Хрговичтой хийсэн тулаанаас хойш долоон долоо хоног өнгөрсөн ч Итаума үр дүнг хүлээн зөвшөөрөхөд бэрхшээлтэй хэвээр байна. Тэрээр тулааны эхний раундуудад өрсөлдөгчдөө хүчтэй цохилтууд оноосон ч есдүгээр раунд гэхэд биеийн бэлтгэл нь суларч, туршлагатай өрсөлдөгчдөө ялагдсанаа хүлээн зөвшөөрөх нь түүний хувьд хүнд тусч байгаа аж.
“The Ring” сэтгүүлд өгсөн ярилцлагадаа Итаума тулааны бичлэгийг хэд хэдэн удаа үзсэн ч бүрэн гүйцэд эвлэрч чадахгүй байгаагаа дурджээ. Тэрээр ялагдлаа азгүйтэл гэхээсээ илүүтэй өөрийн бие бялдрын бэлтгэл дутсан явдал гэдгийг ухамсарлаж байгаа ч сэтгэл зүйн хувьд үүнийг даван туулахыг хичээж байна.
Мэргэжилтнүүдийн үзэж буйгаар Итаума энэ ялагдлаасаа сургамж авч, бэлтгэл сургуулилтаа дахин шинэ түвшинд гаргаж, бие бялдрын тэсвэр тэвчээрээ сайжруулах шаардлагатай байна. Өөрийн амбицаа хойш тавьж, бодит байдалтай эвлэрэх нь түүний цаашдын карьерын хувьд чухал алхам болох юм.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
Moses Itauma still struggles to accept his loss to Filip Hrgovic. Every time he watches the fight, he gets upset again, knowing how close he came to winning a world title before it all fell apart.
Almost seven weeks out from that first setback, the 21-year-old gives Hrgovic full credit. Accepting the result for himself is proving much harder. Itauma opened up about how hard it hits every time he hits play.
“I watched it back two or three times. I just get annoyed every time I watch it. The best way to describe it is that I’m gutted,” said Itauma to The Ring about his fight with Hrgovic.
Getting angry at the replay shows he is treating the result like a cruel fluke rather than an inevitable physical breakdown. He convinced himself that landing sharp shots in the opening rounds meant the contest belonged to him by right. Watching Hrgovic absorb those blows, march forward, and expose his empty gas tank destroys that fantasy. He gets upset because the tape proves Hrgovic did not steal the win. Hrgovic beat it out of him.
“I’ll always say I’d rather be third than second because in third you know you couldn’t have won but when you’re second you knew that it was there for you. That’s what I’m going through right now.”
Saying he would rather finish third than second is the ultimate tell. That is pure rationalization from a young fighter trying to protect his ego. He wants to believe he was just inches away from victory, but the ninth round proved otherwise. That was not a bad decision on the cards or a freak cut. That was a veteran systematically breaking down a 21-year-old whose gas tank and physical conditioning simply emptied out.
“Even now I’m still trying to accept the fact that I lost,” said Itauma.
To move past this, Itauma has to let go of the ego trip that made him believe he was an untouchable phenom, robbed by bad luck. Wishing for a different ending is a dead end. Seven weeks of brooding over the tape means he is still bargaining with the reality in front of him.
If he wants to stop torturing himself when he presses play, he needs to get back into the gym with guys who will crack him back, force him to work twelve hard rounds in sparring, and rebuild his game from the ground up. Until he looks in the mirror and admits he was nowhere near ready for that level, that tape is going to keep eating him alive.
