Moses Itauma is set to begin the comeback trail in early 2027, following his shocking August defeat to Filip Hrgovic. As he eyes up another shot at world honours, Amir Khan has offered his thoughts on the chances of the youngster winning gold.
Itauma was expected to become boxing’s second-youngest heavyweight world champion when he collided with Hrgovic at the O2 Arena, but a dazzling display soon turned to disaster when the 21-year-old appeared to have punched himself out.
Exhausted, it did not take long for the experienced Croatian in the opposing corner to capitalise, closing the show in a dramatic ninth round, with Itauma then being stretchered out after exerting all of his energy in the ring.
Speaking to Boxing King Media, Khan sympathised with Itauma and admitted that it reminds him of his similarly surprising upset defeat to Breidis Prescott back in 2008, but maintained that Itauma is capable of getting his hands on the heavyweight throne down the line.
“He can come back. It happened to me when I fought Prescott, I came back and won a world title.
“He is going to come in there, knowing that things can go wrong. The whole world talked about how good he was, he was the next Muhammad Ali, he was the next big thing in the UK – which I still believe he can be.
“I am 100% behind him. I have been through it, firsthand, I lost fights and I got destroyed by the media, as well, social media and the press literally destroyed me and said that I am done.”
Khan then went on to advise Itauma to reflect on his performance and make the necessary adjustments but to not wait around on the sidelines too long, believing he must shake off any demons from the performance as soon as possible.
“You need to get straight back in. Them demons are going to be there, but you have to get straight back in again. You have to. You can’t take too much time out, I got straight back into the gym and I went straight back into training camp.
“I made some changes, I went to Freddie Roach at the time, I went to America; away from my fans, my friends, my family, everyone. I was focussed.”
Promoter Frank Warren has revealed that Itauma will remain with trainer Ben Davison when he returns to the ring in January, as he seeks to rebuild his momentum and re-announce himself as one of boxing’s biggest talents.
