Heavyweight prospect Moses Itauma is seen by some fans as the UK’s next world champion. They are impressed by the knockouts the fringe contender is scoring, but he has yet to fight anyone to show if he is for real.
His promoter is closely matching him as he should, but fans may be disappointed when Itauma is finally pitted against someone with real talent.
Frank Warren-promoted 20-year-old Itauma (11-0, 9 KOs) knocked out journeyman Demsey McKean in the first round in Riyadh last week and has his British fans excited about his potential. He initially dropped McKean with a left to the back of the head and knocked him down again.
The next big thing?
Some boxing fans have talked about Itauma breaking Mike Tyson’s record for becoming the fastest heavyweight world champion. This is NOT happening. Itauma CANNOT break Mike Tyson’s record unless he gets a world title shot within the next four months. Mike Tyson was 20 and four months old when he won 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 in with heavyweight champions Daniel Dubois or Oleksandr Usyk. He will likely be exposed, just like his brother, Karol Itauma.
It is still too early to tell if Itauma will pan out as he has yet to fight a world class heavyweight and is not tall at 6’2″. Itauma’s brother, Karol, also looked good at first, but when he faced a decent light heavyweight, Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna, he was knocked out in the fifth round.
Each fighter initially looks good when matched against the kind 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 could be right,” Teddy Atlas said 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 great job with him.
“His talent is unavoidable. He doesn’t look like a guy who’s a big puncher before he hits you. He (Itauma) has a chance to break Mike Tyson’s record to become the youngest heavyweight of all time. However, he is only 11-0.”
Itauma is a decent contender, but I don’t see him winning a world title unless he follows the Kubrat Pulev and Mahmoud Charr route by capturing the WBA ‘regular’ heavyweight belt. It doesn’t take much talent to win that belt. While Usyk and Dubois are around, Itauma is not going to win any of the coveted belts.
If some of the other contenders, like Agit Kabayel or Martin Bakole, get their hands on a world title, I don’t see him beating either of those guys. Itauma is a good basic contender but NOT the next British Heavyweight Champion. He will not replace the questionable Tyson Fury or Anthony Joshua as the next star in the UK.
“He has a good promoter, Frank Warren,” Atlas said of Itauma. “He has the talent, but he doesn’t have the experience to fight against an Usyk or a Dubois.
He has speed to go with it (power). He is calm, he has confidence and his technique is solid. They did a good job with him. You have to have good technique if you’re going to have talent. He showed me he was smart,” Atlas said.
