EVEN before Moses Itauma turned pro and made his debut six weeks later, there were not-so-subtle murmurs about a special teenage heavyweight prospect on British shores that had an ambitious record he wanted to break.
10 fights and not yet two years into life within the paid ranks, his expectations have been tempered and inner circle altered but the goal remains: deliver on such prodigious potential seeing him dominate the amateurs as a European and World youth champion.
By now a regular on these lucrative Riyadh Season cards, he spoke on TNT Sports’ broadcast after grand arrivals about fight week events, making an often-monotonous job more exciting.
He enjoys being part of the boxing community, a smaller fraternity than most sports and admitted he wouldn’t be able to live without boxing after an unintentional break showed him how much he missed the discipline.
Itauma celebrates his 20th birthday three days after Christmas and the easy-to-quote headline about breaking Mike Tyson’s record as the youngest-ever world champion might feel more fanciful than feasible, though he’s steadily making strides towards world level much faster than British contemporaries.
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Training out of Ben Davison’s gym sees him take inspiration from Anthony Joshua and others, while Tyson Fury has taken the teenager under his wing too and lent an ear during gruelling training camps together – this one in particular from Morecambe to Malta.
When building a highlight reel against increasingly credible opposition while learning from two of the world’s best boxers, it’s easy to see why the Chatham southpaw is bullish about being above domestic level.
On whether he’d flicker between the two and go the traditional route after being mandated to box newly-minted champion David Adeleye for English honours in this month’s BBBofC circular, Queensberry promoter Frank Warren echoed that sentiment while being complimentary of some within his current stable.
He told Boxing News: “When we talk about domestic [level], some of the British guys we’ve got are world level! This is a tough fight for Moses, Demsey McKean’s only lost once and that was in the 12th against Filip Hrgovic, in a final eliminator for the world title.”
Australian southpaw McKean (22-1, 14 KOs) was a relatively unknown name outside the Gold Coast before the COVID-19 pandemic, after which he signed with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing and built up more exposure worldwide.
Competitive despite suffering a final round stoppage defeat by then #1 IBF contender Hrgovic in August last year, the 34-year-old might’ve been inactive but has been training across different environments – including with UFC light-heavyweight champion Alex Pereira – staying sharp for a golden ticket like this.
“You saw what Hrgovic did to Dubois in the early part of their fight, you know he’s tough, so it’s whether our guy – still a teenager – what can he do in this fight? He’s got the tools to do it and look good, just hope we haven’t made the match too soon,” Warren continued, expressing some much-needed caution.
Hrgovic landed 91 of 382 punches (23 per cent) thrown in the first six rounds of an exhausting firefight with Dubois, one he likely led before the Brit’s steely resolve and superior fight pacing was key en route to an eighth-round stoppage victory.
McKean began this week disclosing a rematch clause in place for Itauma, who wants more rounds but accepted he’s unsure of what awaits him against a motivated fighter armed with a new team.
Motivation shouldn’t be an issue for Itauma, especially given the high stakes and esteemed company he’s been keeping in camp in the form of main eventer Tyson Fury.
Speaking later to TNT on being with Fury in camp for this, he said: “It was a lot different, mentality switched… he wasn’t the nice guy anymore. He’d get hit with a good shot [in sparring] and start screaming! To be in this sport you need to be a little bit mad, trust me I was in the camp, he trained hard and wants this.”
