Moses Itauma is deemed by many to be the future of both the heavyweight division and British boxing, but when asked whom he believes will lead the next generation of UK fighters, Itauma offered two alternate prospects.
At the age of 21 years old, Itauma is set to challenge for the IBF heavyweight world title at the end of the month, where victory will see the Kent-based phenomenon become the second-youngest heavyweight ruler of all time, behind only Mike Tyson.
Stood in his way is Croatia’s Filip Hrgovic, who missed out on the chance to claim IBF honours in his solitary career defeat – losing out to Daniel Dubois back in 2024 in a clash for the IBF Interim title, with ‘Triple D’ being elevated to full champion soon after his win.
Speaking ahead of their fight, in an interview with DAZN Boxing, Itauma was quizzed to name a boxer that he believes to be the future of the sport, but the youngster offered two names.
“Aloys [Youmbi] Junior and Royston Barney-Smith.”
Both Aloys Junior and Royston Barney-Smith train in the same stable as Itauma, under the tutelage of Ben Davison, and the former is set to compete on the Itauma-Hrgovic undercard in his toughest fight to date – against former cruiserweight world title challenger, Mike Perez.
Meanwhile, Barney-Smith stretched his undefeated record to 17-0 as he outpointed former British super-featherweight champion Reece Bellotti on the Pierce O’Leary vs. Mark Chamberlain undercard at the beginning of the month. ‘RBS’ is now rated as the world #8 and #10 super-featherweight with the WBO and IBF respectively.
Itauma-Hrgovic takes place on Saturday, August 29, with the victor of the main-event set to face Frank Sanchez before the end of the year.
