Moses Itauma is the most exciting thing in boxing’s heavyweight division, but how does he take the next step to greatness?
The 20-year-old phenom from Kent has incredible ring IQ, speed and power – a quite devastating mix which has the boxing purists drooling.
While he no longer has a chance of beating Mike Tyson’s record as the youngest world heavyweight champion ever, he is on course to become a bona fide superstar with a pro record of 11-0.
Nine of those Itauma victories have come inside the first two rounds – a chilling highlight reel which shows just how good the man they call ‘Enriko’ could one day be.
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Itauma admits the one thing he really needs now is experience, after all he believes he is better in most areas than even the current heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk. No, it’s rounds Moses requires.
The big question of course is how he gets those rounds – it’s a fine line between somebody who can live with his talents for a while, and somebody who could actually threaten to burst his bubble. That is the art of matchmaking, the fight fight at the right time.
Itauma’s next fight
We already know who Itauma will face next, former NFL star Mike Balogun on the big Josh Taylor vs Ekow Essuman show in Glasgow on May 24. But the British sensation is expected to make short work of Balogun, so already attention is turning to who is the fight after next.
One man mentioned as a possible stepping stone for Itauma, and a tantalising one at that, is man mountain Martin Bakole. And it’s a fight Itauma’s Hall of Fame promoter Frank Warren would absolutely make.
Speaking to Ring magazine, he said: ““One million percent. If you went and picked the phone up now and asked George [Frank’s son] and [Ben] Shalom, who was there, I said that to Shalom. I said I’d do that fight in a heartbeat.”
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Bakole has already showed that he is capable of ruining a big reputation or two – remember he stopped hot American prospect Jared Anderson in a stunning upset in Los Angeles last year.
More recently, the 31-year-old Congolese star was blasted out himself by Joseph Parker as a late stand-in three months ago. We can perhaps forgive that given Bakole took the bout at short notice after Daniel Dubois was forced to pull out.
Bakole has fought since then, sharing a majority draw with another heavyweight prospect Efe Ajagba on the Canelo Alvarez vs William Scull undercard in Saudi Arabia last weekend.
