Despite stopping him in two rounds when they collided in July 2024, Moses Itauma believes “madman” Mariusz Wach represents an “interesting” opponent for Tyson Fury.
It was announced last week that ‘The Gypsy King’ will be facing Wach on July 24, the day before Anthony Joshua’s warm-up fight against Kristian Prenga in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Ordinarily, Fury would come under heavy criticism for fighting a 46-year-old veteran but, on this occasion, he could perhaps be forgiven for accepting such a low-risk opponent.
This is partly because his long-awaited showdown with ‘AJ’ – expected to take place this November – has made it so that neither Brit can afford any major slip-ups in their respective next outings.
But also, Fury has dressed this up more as a charitable event than any money-making scheme, having claimed that all proceeds will be donated to the “starving and homeless children” of Pattaya, Thailand.
Not only that, but the WBC will present the 37-year-old with an inaugural ‘humanitarian’ belt in acknowledgement of this occasion, which will take place at the Max Muaythai Stadium – a 2,000 capacity venue – in Pattaya.
As for the fight itself, heavyweight prodigy Itauma has discussed his thoughts with IFL TV.
“My brother sent [the Fury-Wach poster] to me in the group chat a couple days ago, and I was like, ‘This is interesting’.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a similar style to Joshua, but [Wach] is similar [in some ways]. Wach’s a madman. I’ve had him here for sparring a few times – he sparred me and [then went to] the pub for a fight.
“The first time I asked him to come for sparring, he didn’t even ask me for flights; he didn’t ask me for accommodation; he didn’t ask me how much he was going to get paid. He just said yes.
“The bell went and he just tried to take my head off.”
Fury’s fight with Wach follows his unanimous decision victory over Arslanbek Makhmudov, which ended 16 months of inactivity in April.
