Roy Jones Jr believes Moses Itauma is the most “exciting heavyweight” since Mike Tyson, but has named one man who would perhaps nullify his explosiveness.
Despite having not fought any top-tier contenders, Itauma is widely regarded as a future world champion who could reign supreme for many years to come.
The 21-year-old claimed his most significant victory thus far in March, comfortably steamrolling the typically durable Jermaine Franklin in five rounds.
In doing so, Itauma has become the mandatory challenger to the winner of Fabio Wardley vs Daniel Dubois, which takes place for Wardley’s WBO world heavyweight title on May 9.
At this stage in his promising career, however, the precocious talent is yet to test himself at world level, with his only other two notable wins arriving against a faded Dillian Whyte and an overmatched Demsey McKean.
Nevertheless, on both of those occasions in 2025 and 2024, respectively, Itauma ended proceedings in the first two rounds and showed his world-class potential.
Having passed the eye test, pound-for-pound legend Jones believes Itauma is capable of knocking out any heavyweight apart from Oleksandr Usyk, who still holds the WBC, IBF and WBA world titles.
Speaking with Grosvenor Casino, Jones explains that Usyk’s elusiveness and experience would likely cause the Brit problems, presenting him with a style he has never previously encountered.
“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. So, if [Itauma] 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 [him], because you haven’t really seen him get cracked yet, but the only one I see [giving] him the biggest problem is Usyk.”
While many view Usyk vs Itauma as the most mouth-watering matchup in heavyweight boxing, it is difficult to see the pair ever crossing paths in a competitive sense.
