Mike Tyson warned Moses Itauma – tipped by Tyson Fury to succeed Oleksandr Usuk as the king of heavyweight boxing – that there are no bums in the division.
Usyk continued his dominance of the heavyweight division last Saturday with his second win over Fury, beating the Gypsy King with three 116-112 scorecards. In doing so, the Ukrainian retained his WBA, WBC and WBO belts and kept his unbeaten record.
But with Usyk aged 37 and both Fury and Anthony Joshua now seemingly past their best, many have speculated who will be the next great heavyweight. And one name gaining considerable hype is 19-year-old British starlet Itauma, dubbed the British Mike Tyson.
Itauma fought on the undercard of Usyk vs Fury 2, flattening Demsey McKean via a brutal first-round TKO at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh to take his record up to 11-0. The Slovakia-born teenager is starting to look like a serious fighter, as his sparring partner Fury predicted earlier this year.
Fury, taking to Instagram in March, posted a post-sparring picture with Itauma with the caption: Moses Itauma is the future of the heavyweight division.”
The former world champion also admitted he has no intention of facing Itauma himself in a serious contest, saying last year: “No, I definitely wouldn’t [accept a fight with Itauma]. Do you think I’m stupid? No, no no.”
Standing at 6ft 4in, nine of the southpaws professional victories have been through stoppage since he made his debut in January 2023. His fighting style and fast rise have drawn comparisons with former undisputed world champion Iron Mike, with Tyson even offering Itauma some direct advice when they met ringside last year.
Following his sixth pro victory over Istvan Bernath, the boxing legend asked Itauma: How many fights do you get a year?
A lot, Itauma answered. Im thinking eight fights this year, eight fights next year and then well see what we can come up with. But I want eight quality fights, not eight bums.
Tyson interjected by imparting his own wisdom, saying: No, no, no, listen. Any fight is a quality fight because anything can happen in there. Theres no such thing as bums. I used to say people are bums until I made my comeback. You can learn from any fight. Itauma nodded in agreement.
He has since fought four times this year, adding to his tally of seven bouts in 2023. He has also voiced his dream of breaking Tysons record as the youngest world heavyweight champion of all time.
He told The Mirror in 2023: “I want to become the youngest heavyweight world champion since Mike Tyson who was 20 years old. I need to take small steps but also ensure that I step up the tasks very quickly. I want to do short steps but not too much with them.”
Itauma added: “Youngest ever world heavyweight champion is in my mid-term goals but it is something that I can believe I can achieve before 2025. I am in the right place because Frank Warren has all the other big heavyweights at the moment so I think I have a bright future.”
That would mean he has to claim one of the major belts by May 26, 2025, with Usyk and Daniel Dubois currently holding those straps.
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