Heavyweight prospect Moses Itauma is seen as the UK’s next world champion by some fans. They are impressed by the knockouts that the fringe contender has scored, but he has yet to beat anyone to show if it is true.
His promoter is following him carefully as he should, but fans may be disappointed when Itauma is finally facing someone with real talent.
20-year-old Itauma, promoted by Frank Warren (11-0, 9 KOs) defeated youngster Demsey McKean in the first round last week in Riyadh and has his British fans excited about his potential. Initially, he dropped McKean with a left to the back of his head and knocked him down again.
The next big thing?
Some boxing fans have talked about Itauma breaking Mike Tyson’s record of becoming the fastest world heavyweight champion. That doesn’t happen. Itauma can’t beat Mike Tyson’s record unless he gets a world title within the next four months. Mike Tyson was 20 and four months old when he captured his first world title, stopping WBC champion Trevor Berbick in the second round on November 22, 1986.
It would be a bad idea to put Moses Itauma with heavyweight champions Daniel Dubois or Oleksandr Usyk. He is probably exposed, like his brother, Karol Itauma.
It is still too early to tell if Itauma will learn because he has yet to fight a world heavyweight and he is not tall at 6’2″. Itauma’s brother Karol also looked good initially, but when he faced a decent light heavyweight, Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna, he was knocked out in the fifth round.
Every fighter looks good initially when they are matched against the type of opposition that Moses fought.
Drink the Kool-Aid
“They’re looking at this kid to be the next big heavyweight to come out of England, and they might be right,” said Teddy Atlas on his channeltalking about 19-year-old Moses Itauma. “Ben Davison is the coach. He’s the same guy who trains (Anthony) Joshua and does a good job with him.
“His talent is undeniable. He doesn’t look like a guy who’s a big puncher until he hits you. He (Itauma) had a chance to break Mike Tyson’s record to become the youngest heavyweight of all time. times. It’s only 11-0, though.
Itauma is a decent contender, but I don’t see him winning a world title unless he follows the path of Kubrat Pulev and Mahmoud Charr capturing the “regular” WBA heavyweight belt. It doesn’t take much talent to win that belt. While Usyk and Dubois are around, Itauma won’t win any of the prestigious belts.
If some of the other contenders, like Agit Kabaiel or Martin Bakole, get their hands on a world title, I don’t see him beating either of those guys. Itauma is a good grassroots contender, but NOT the next British Heavyweight Champion. It will not replace the demand Tyson Fury or Anthony Joshua as the next star in the UK.
“He’s a great promoter, Frank Warren,” Atlas said of Itauma. “He has the talent, but he doesn’t have the experience to fight an Usyk or a Dubois.
It has the speed to go with it (power). He’s calm, he’s confident, and his technique is solid. They did a good job with it. You need good technique if you have talent. He showed me he’s smart,” Atlas said.
