Two big names in British boxing, earmarked as stars of the future, Moses Itauma and Conor Benn, have suffered shattering defeats in recent weeks. Both were halted in their first world title fights. Ryan Garcia savagely ended Benn's challenge for the WBC welterweight belt in just two rounds, while Itauma crumbled in the ninth round when boxing Filip Hrgovic for the vacant IBF strap.
George Groves became a big name in British boxing but was no stranger to adversity in his career - it took him four attempts to win a world championship. He says Itauma, who is still only 21 years old, must demonstrate his resolve. "He's going to have to show a lot of resilience to come back from that as well as remain confident with self-belief," Groves told Sky Sports.
"There's no way you can train to that level of exhaustion. It's not like you can go into the gym and replicate that. It's never going to be, in the gym, as important as what it is - a world title fight at his age underneath the lights with everything on the line.
"He's been there now and that's a credit to him… Now you've got to use that. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player "It's not an easy task but I hope that there isn't a lot of mental scarring there and they can go back and not try and reinvent. Keep what he is but just give him more comfort and confidence in the pacing of the fight." That's something Itauma will have to learn.
"Maybe it will come with age, that endurance that he can be much more of a 12 round fighter than a three-round fighter. At the moment he's a three-round fighter. That's the sad fact of it.
He's not even a six-round fighter. I thought he was gassing a bit from the third round on," Groves said. "He's that sort of athlete, extremely fast twitch and when he punches he puts maximum effort into it.
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