Itauma shoves Hrgovic off stage and gets slapped at chaotic weigh-in

Moses Itauma pushed Filip Hrgovic off the stage and was slapped in the face by the Croat as Friday's weigh-in for their vacant IBF heavyweight title fight descended into chaos.

The pair meet at London's O2 Arena on Saturday, with the 21-year-old bidding to become the second-youngest heavyweight champion in history. That is the prize behind a fight week in which a fighter JOE profiled this week as 21 and one night from a world title had, until Friday, refused to engage with Hrgovic's attempts to rile him.

How the Itauma weigh-in fracas unfolded

The two exchanged expletives during a charged face-off at Friday's ceremonial weigh-in at Spitalfields Market. As Hrgovic turned to pose for photographs, Itauma shoved him in the back, sending the 34-year-old off the stage. Hrgovic climbed back up, reached through security and slapped the Chatham fighter in the face before members of both teams became involved and security separated them, BBC Sport reported.

"He pushed me first so I just gave it back. He started it," Hrgovic said, before breaking off from his interview to stare down Itauma.

Earlier in the week, Itauma had said that Hrgovic, who has repeatedly labelled him a "kid", was beginning to get under his skin. "I don't know, I just lost it a little bit. I had a little itch and I had to scratch it," he said on Friday.

Hrgovic weighs in at his lightest for seven years

Before the fracas, an in-shape Hrgovic had weighed 16st 12lb (107kg), his lightest in seven years and 12 pounds under the weight he carried for his victory over Dave Allen in May. Itauma came in at 17st 4lb (110kg), exactly what he weighed for his win over Jermaine Franklin in March.

Victory on Saturday would also make Itauma the second-youngest world champion Britain has produced. Elsewhere in the heavyweight division last week, Tyson Fury threw his fight with Anthony Joshua into doubt in a scathing rant aimed at his opponent and Eddie Hearn.