Throughout boxing history Britain has produced many heavyweight prospects, contenders, and champions and this trend has continued. Recent examples of high achievers include Anthony Joshua, Dillian Whyte, Daniel Dubois, Joe Joyce. And in terms of recent prospects many have popped up Fabio Wardley, Frazer Clarke, David Adeleye, and Johnny Fisher. However, among these prospects there’s one stand out Moses Itauma. His reputation from sparring, amateur pedigree, and performance in the pros sets him a part from the rest and prop him up as a prodigy.
Moses Itauma’s Amateur Pedigree
In terms of amateur experience and pedigree Itauma has the goods. Itauma’s amateur record is 20-0 half of those wins coming by way of knockout. Although, his amateur career isn’t as extensive as an Usyk, Lomachenko, or Andy Cruz it is still very impressive. His amateur career was from 2017-2022 he won plenty of tournaments and championships.
Initially he started small as most amateurs do winning local tournament in this case winning the English Schools championship final in 2017. In 2018 he would the win the EUBC European School boys championship. 2019 saw Moses step up a level winning the England Boxing National Junior Championships, EUBC European Junior Championships, and Schweriner Boxturnier tournament.
in 2020 and 2021 Moses was unable to compete due to Covid and the subsequent restrictions. But in 2022 he would make up for the inactivity with more wins. He would win the English Youth Championships and the EUBC European Youth Championships. And, most impressively he would win the IBA World Youth Championships. For reference the IBA is one of the most prestigious amateur organisations. These tournament wins show how even at a young age Ituama was able to hang at domestic, European, and world level. Even early on you can see the impressive hand speed, footwork, fluidity, technique etc.
Itauma likely would’ve made it far in this years Olympics however he decided to turn pro in 2023 when he was 18. The main reason for this is he seeks to be the youngest heavyweight champion ever and wants to beat Mike Tyson’s record.
Itauma’s Sparring Stories
On top of that there have been many stories involving Itauma and high level boxers he was brought in to spar whilst he was a teenager. Back in 2022 Shane McGuigan former trainer of Daniel Dubois and Lawrence Okolie gave an interview with TalkSport. In this interview he talks about how he brought in Itauma at age 17 to spar Daniel Dubois. McGuigan also said that he brought Itauma in at age 15 to spar Lawrence Okolie.
Now that is extremely unusual to have someone so young to spar top level guys. Dubois is live contender at heavyweight and is a world title challenger and Okolie is a former champion at cruiserweight. So that really says something about just how good Itauma is. McGuigan also called Itauma “unbelievable” and “phenomenal”.
On top of that Itauma has also been brought in to spar Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. In an interview with Talksport Moses Itauma revealed he sparred Joshua when he was 16. Itauma has also revealed he has been a recent sparring partner of Tyson Fury. Now that really says something that he has been brought into to spar former champions who at the time were word champions. Again, despite his young age he is being drafted in to spar top level guys really speaking to just how good Itauma is.
Itauma’s Professional Career
So, how has Moses Itauma been doing in the professonal game? Well safe to say things are going swimmingly for the 19 year old. Itauma stands at 10-0 with 8 KOs and has been very active fighting 7 times in 2023 and 3 so far in 2024. The primary reason for the activity is to get Ituama experience in the pros and to try to break Tyson’s record. Mike Tyson became heavyweight champion for the first time at 20 years, 4 months, and 22 days old. Itauma is currently 19.
Most of his opposition have been puddings as befits someone who only recently become pro and as such Itauma has been blasting them out. However, recently Itauma saw his first big step up in comp in his fight with Mariuz Wach. Wach is a former title challenger and contender who is past his best and prior to this fight had only been dropped once being renowned for his chin. Itauma finished him in 2 rounds dropping him in round 2 before getting the stoppage.
In this fight he continued to show just how good he is. The speed, the power, the combos, the movement, the footspeed, the counters everything was on point. The fight also showed maturity from Itauma who didn’t go searching for the knockout and was just working his way into the fight until it came.
The Future for Moses Itauma
In regards to how he’ll be moved and next opponent his promoter Frank Warren and Manager Francis Warren have been very positive. Both seem very confident in Itauma and are more than willing to give him another step up. Francis in an interview with Queensberry mentioned Frazer Clarke, Dempsey McKean, and Justin Huni as potential next opponents. All of which are good step ups. Clarke in particular would be a great domestic fight.
After that depending on how he deals with his next step up it may be time to stick Itauma in with a top 10-15 opponent. Someone like a Dillian Whyte, Joe Joyce, or even Derrick Chisora would make sense. Potentially Jared Anderson but that fight would be bigger if Jared got a win prior to that fight given he was finished by Bakole.
The sky does appear to be the limit for Itauma who is only 19 and will only continue to improve. If he keeps performing as he has been through the step ups he’ll be a real problem for the division. Moses Itauma really has the potential to become a champion and his journey will be really exciting to see unfold.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
