Pound-for-pound icon Roy Jones Jr has assessed how Moses Itauma would fare if tasked with heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk in his next fight.
Itauma seems destined to rule in the heavyweight division, improving in each fight whilst extending his record to 14-0 and climbing the world rankings, despite having never fought beyond the sixth round.
The Kent-based sensation is heading towards a world title challenge in the near future, but some fight fans are encouraging Itauma to push for a challenge against Usyk for the unified heavyweight crown now, rather than wait for an easier shot at a possible vacant title or new champion.
Speaking to Grosvenor Casinos, four-division world champion Jones Jr labelled Itauma as the ‘most exciting heavyweight since Mike Tyson’ but stated that Usyk is currently the man to give him his ‘biggest problem’.
“Is Moses Itauma the most exciting heavyweight since Mike Tyson? Right now, yes, I think he is.
“He’s got the explosive punching power that Mike Tyson had; if you can hit them before they hit you, most of the time you’re going to knock them out. That’s what Mike did. Mike hit them before they hit him, and he got them out, because he was so explosive.
“So if he can do that, he will knock out most of the heavyweights, but with Usyk, he’s a little bit hard to hit.
“Moses gives all the heavyweights a hard time. You can’t say he beats them until you put them in front of them, because you haven’t really seen him get cracked yet, but the only one I see that gives him the biggest problem is Usyk.”
Itauma is expected to return to action in July, where he could move one step closer towards a future crack at world honours.
