Heavyweight boxing phenom Moses Itauma is now set for the big time, and by that we mean the really big time.
It appears as though the sensational 20-year-old from Chatham, Kent will make a quickfire return to the ring on the back of another incredible performance in Glasgow last Saturday.
‘Enriko’ was simply brilliant once again, leaving the experts drooling as he blasted out American Mike Balogun inside two devastating rounds on the Josh Taylor vs Ekow Essuman card.
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Itauma finished the job inside four minutes in Scotland, but that was plenty long enough to showcase his bewildering skillset. A trio of brutal left hands had Balogun on his back inside 90 seconds, before two beautiful right hooks off the back foot closed the show in Round 2.
It was another amazing display of the tantalising potential this young man possesses, and it had even the most hardened of critics purring with approval.
Itauma set for Usyk undercard
Now, standing at 12-0 with 10 wins inside the first two rounds, Itauma is ranked #1 by the World Boxing Organization (WBO) and starting to knock on the door for a world title shot some time soon.
Next up Itauma is set to fight on the same card as the men he could one day face with a world title belt on the line – Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois. They of course will face off at London’s iconic Wembley Stadium on July 19 for all of the heavyweight marbles in front of a crowd of close on 100,000 fans.
It will be a spectacular occasion, one worthy of crowning the sport’s second undisputed heavyweight king in the last 26 years, and adding Itauma to the show just adds a further ton of star quality.
All the noises from the Itauma camp are that Moses will indeed be on the undercard, and Hall of Fame promoter Frank Warren is currently wrestling with one specific problem – how does he get Itauma some rounds?
Who can live with ‘Enriko’?
Remember last December when Itauma took on world-ranked and teak-tough Aussie Demsey McKean on the Usyk vs Tyson Fury 2 undercard in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A stern test was expected, but the result was quite stunning – another Moses demolition job, inside a round.
Warren discussed his pressing task in an interview with BoxNation, admitting: “Look, when, when guys are big punchers, they’re big punchers. And that’s it, you know. We’ve made a couple of fights where we thought we’d get a few rounds out of it, and he’s taken the guys out who are durable fighters.
“It is what it is. All you can do now is make matches and try and step him up each time. But he’s not far off a fight for the big one.”
A number of names have been thrown around when it comes to potential Itauma opponents – among them the likes of Swede Otto Wallin, American Jermaine Franklin, Congolese star Martin Bakole and Croat banger Filip Hrgovic.
Warren said: “Well, those names are, you know, for a young guy, young fighter coming through – all those, all those names all sound good. All of them. But we will see, I mean. He’s gonna fight again, he’ll fight in July, and we’ll be hopefully sorting an opponent out this week.”
An intelligent ‘monster’
Itauma isn’t just a brutal finisher with devastating power and speed, he’s also a young man with a maturity and a ring IQ way beyond his tender years. But nobody should let that calm exterior fool them.
Warren said: “He’s a lovely guy. He’s a lovely guy, got a nice family, you know – he’s a proper, proper bloke. But once he gets in that ring, I’ll tell you what – phew, he’s a monster.”
