Moses Itauma looks to continue his electric rise through professional boxing on December 21st.
Still a teenager, the heavyweight prospect fights Demsey Mackey on the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury 2, live. Sky Sports box office.
Aussie McKean has only lost once in 23 professional fights, and that loss came by good measure against Filip Hrgovic.
It will be Itauma’s fourth fight of the year and the young Brit has impressed, last time out beating the usually durable Mariusz Wach in just two rounds.
“That’s what I should have been doing all along,” Itauma said Sky Sports. “He’s known for taking guys the distance, but he couldn’t take me.
“The sky’s the limit for me. I’m 19 years old and I believe I’m the future of the heavyweight division and British boxing in general.”
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Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury star in an epic trailer ahead of their rematch.
Itauma is looking to end the year in style and then further solidify his position in the weight class.
“For me, there are many good fights that should be organized,” he said. “It’s not personal. I want to climb the rankings. Because that’s what I’m in this game for.”
He has already shared the ring with world-class boxers. He sparred with Anthony Joshua when he was still younger, just 16. Recently, both Daniel Dubois, the current IBF champion, and Tyson Fury, the former WBC world champion, have sparred with Itauma ahead of the Usyk fight.
“Not just because I’m a southpaw, but because I’ve got a little ring IQ. I’ve got good moves, I’ve got good feet, like Usyk,” he said.
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Tyson Fury insists he can’t do better in his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk, but admits he will stop his “clowns” in the second fight.
Itauma learned from them. “Being around Tyson, I appreciated not only the sparring, but being around him, he always drops wisdom,” he explained.
He learned the importance of “having a balanced life, balanced between boxing, life, entertainment.”
If a fighter only trains all the time, Fury told him. “You are destined to fail.”
“You see a lot of people get so lonely about their work, they kind of lose touch with reality and then they start doing x, y, z. You have to have a balanced life of work, relationships, and fun I feel like that’s the biggest lesson I’ve learned.
“People who paved the way for me, when they talk, I definitely listen.”
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Watch Usyk vs Fury 2 live on Sky Sports Box Office on Saturday 21 December.
Itauma is on a fast track to world level competition and is expected to win a championship at some point.
“In the case of boxing, when you want it to happen, it doesn’t happen, it happens when you don’t expect it,” he reflected.
But Itauma, fight by fight, expects to show more and more what he’s capable of. “The level I’m boxing at is not the same. I’ll be able to show people with these small steps give the level I’m at,” he said.
“It’s scary what my potential is and where I can go.”
Don’t miss Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury II live Sky Sports box office on December 21.
