Solve the Itauma problem
Hearn’s response is deliberate. He says he has two heavyweights who can rock with him. Not outbox him or outthink him, but rock with him. That language gives the game away.
“I’ve got to find some heavyweights that can rock with him over the next three or four years, and I’ve got two that I think will really rock with him,” Hearn told talkSport Boxing.
Itauma’s rise was built on rapid destruction. Most of his opponents folded as soon as the pace mirrors and the left hand landed cleanly. When you construct an answer, you start with durability and strength. You’re looking for size, heavy hands and someone who doesn’t panic when the early shots come. That’s what Hearn seems to be building.
Australian Olympian Theodore Theodore is being offered as the nearer-term option, with Hearn pushing a six-to-twelve-month window. Teremoana obliterated his early opposition, but he has yet to operate under real pressure. The knockouts look good on paper, but they don’t tell you how he reacts when a fight gets awkward.
Then there’s 18-year-olds Leo Atangwhich Hearn openly admitted needed time. He’s ten fights into his career with four stoppages and obvious upside, but he’s still a teenager in a division where physical maturity changes everything. If Atang ever fights for a world title, Hearn has already suggested it will be against Itauma.
That’s bold matchmaking talk, and it also tells you who this whole conversation is built around.
It’s not Tyson Fury or Anthony Joshua setting the tone for this age group, and it’s not Oleksandr Usyk either. The benchmark for this new generation is a 21-year-old Queensberry prospect, which is a move you wouldn’t have predicted two years ago if you follow how these cycles usually move.
The risk in this strategy is obvious. Building a fighter around solving one opponent can limit development, because if you train primarily to survive a puncher, you can neglect other parts of his game. Itauma is not only heavy-handed. He’s quick to get distance, he sets traps, and he cuts the rim in ways that force fouls.
If he continues to add patience and variation, the fighter we see in 2026 could be very different from the one they study today.
Timing is the other issue. Itauma immediately moves to world level, Teremoana is potted for next year and Atang is further out. If Itauma achieves contender status before anyone has tested itself against seasoned operators, the theoretical matchup becomes harder to sell as competitive.
At the moment the balance is clear. Itauma dictates urgency, and others adjust their plans around him.
That doesn’t mean Hearn is wrong. Heavyweight boxing changes quickly, and one punch can rewrite reputations. But until one of his prospects proves he can handle genuine resistance, talk of “rock with him” blueprint rather than proof continues.
Influence without a title
Itauma has already forced a rival promoter to design fighters with him in mind. That’s influence before a world title, and in heavyweight boxing that kind of pull usually belongs to champions.
Whether Matchroom’s anti-Itauma project poses a real threat is still unknown. For now, it confirms something simpler. Moses Itauma is no longer just a prospect on the rise. He is the problem that others are trying to solve.
