Feared by Tyson Fury? Why Moses Itauma is the most avoided man in boxing

Not many people fancy getting in Itauma’s way (Picture: Getty)

For most observers, it is a question of when Moses Itauma becomes world heavyweight champion, not if.

For the last decade, Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury have stood as boxing’s flagbearers in this country but at 36 and 37 years old respectively, their best years are behind them.

Great Britain already has another world champion in Fabio Wardley but Itauma is in the opinion of many to be the true heir to the throne.

After destroying Dillian Whyte, another star of British heavyweight boxing now fading, inside one round last year, he faces his next challenge this weekend in Jermaine Franklin, the well-schooled American who took both Whyte and Joshua the distance in recent years.

13 fights into his professional career have delivered 13 wins, 11 of those via knockout. His devastating start to life in boxing dangled the prospect of becoming the youngest heavyweight champion in history in front of him, needing to shatter the record set by Mike Tyson when he blasted through Trevor Berbick in two rounds in 1986 aged 20 years and 150 days year old.

Tyson had fought 33 times by the time he was Itauma’s age with that record now beyond the 21-year-old from Chatham.

It was always a tall order – boxing has grown more complicated over the last 30 years and even for the most precocious talents, pathways aren’t always clear and it is very easy to become an avoided man. For anyone with their own world title plans, tangling with a destructive young fighter simply isn’t a gamble worth taking.

Itauma is the country’s most promising heavyweight (Picture;:Getty)

Not even for Fury, who returns to the ring after a 16-month absence against Arslanbek Makhmudov in April. Asked about fighting Itauma last week, ‘The Gypsy King’ told Metro: He ain’t on my radar. He ain’t won nothing, he ain’t done nothing.

‘He’s got his own career to think about. He’s is 21, I’ll be a grandfather by the time he is up there. By the time he is 30 I’ll be a grandad, guaranteed.’

Fury is returning after two wars with Oleksandr Usyk in 2024, at a stage now where another defeat could signal the end. Fighting someone like Itauma, dangerous in every sense but still not quite a household name, will have very little reward. Everyone expects you to beat the prospect. Losing to him closes a lot of doors. They are sentiments shared by Usyk who has also distanced himself from a fight with the young lion.

‘I said before, I’m not going to fight Itauma because he is a young guy,’ the reigning WBC, WBA and IBF champion said last month.

‘But I don’t want to break him because this guy likes me.’

While becoming youngest heavyweight champion in history is no longer possible, there is another record still in reach. Joshua picked up his first world title in fight no16 of his career, the fewest number of fights needed to win a major title for a British fighter and fourth quickest of all time. Should all go well Saturday, Itauma will fancy his chances of breaking that.

Itauma’s promoters, Frank Warren and Queensberry,  could have gone down a different route and had their man fighting more often against opponents of a lesser calibre.

Itauma smashed through former world title challenger Whyte (Picture: Getty Images)

In Itauma’s situation though, it has been quality over quantity with Franklin representing another interesting test. Before him was Whyte, a man who until only a few years ago was part of the world title picture with Dempsey McKean and Mariusz Wach also very credible tests he blasted through.

Itauma has never fought beyond six rounds with 11 of his opponents to date failing to make it to the end of the second. Despite the enormous potential, there are still questions.

‘Matchmaking is everything,’ former cruiserweight world champion Johnny Nelson said. ‘Jermaine has been on the fringes, he’s mixed it up with people who are at a higher level [than Moses] so this is about measuring where he is.

Itauma has 13 wins from 13 fights (Picture: Getty Images)

‘We expect him to win but it is about finding out what discipline he has got. We will find out where Moses stands at the minute. It is almost like a fact finding mission because we know he can knock people out, but there is more to it. 

‘There is still a mystery over how good he is. He looks unbeatable now but it’s not until you get really tested where you see where the holes in the armour are.’

Victory will thrust Itauma into the world title picture – at the time of writing, he is ranked no1 with the WBA and WBO and no3 with WBC. Usyk remains in possession of two of those titles for now with fellow Briton Fabio Wardley the reigning WBO champion, set to meet Daniel Dubois in a thrilling domestic dust-up in May.  

With one generation of fighters approaching the end, Itauma and the likes of Wardley and Dubois are part of the next.

‘There is a playground full of fighters domestically,’ Nelson said. ‘Moses is one of the most feared men in the division. There will be fighters out there just above his current level thinking, should I fight this kid now before he gets better any better? But I don’t know who is around to do that. Most will avoid him completely.’

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