It was almost 12 months ago that Moses Itauma first came on to my radar. In May of last year, he fought on Josh Taylor’s undercard at The Hydro in Glasgow – and stole the show.
The Slovakian-born Brit knocked out his opponent – Mike Balogun, an ex-NFL player – in only the second round. It was the most impressive performance of any boxer on the night, although Nathaniel Collins’ victory over Scottish rival Lee McGregor was a close second.
I had been working at Hampden earlier in the day covering the Scottish Cup final between Celtic and Aberdeen. After that match had gone the distance all the way to penalties, I filed my copy and then made a mad dash across the city to The Hydro.
Time was getting away from me and, stuck in traffic at one point, I thought I might well be in danger of missing the main event, Taylor against Ekow Essuman. Mercifully, I made it just in time to see those last three fights. What stood out to me was not only Itauma’s special talent, but also a sense of genuine humility.
Slovakian-born Brit Moses Itauma is the coming man of the heavyweight division
Oleksandr Usyk has held the unified heavyweight championship since 2025
The press pack waiting to speak to him afterwards was not especially large. But he stopped and gave almost 20 minutes of his time to me and a couple of other reporters, speaking eloquently and candidly about his journey.
Another 20 minutes was spent posing for selfies with fans. Nothing was too much trouble for him. Almost an hour had passed since the fight finished and Itauma had yet to make it back to the locker room.
Now a year down the line, Itauma is now very much in the frame for a world title shot after another thunderous knockout last weekend, this time against Jermaine Franklin.
He is still only 21 years old, but he has the world at his feet. What makes Itauma so special is that he combines the handspeed of a welterweight with the raw punch power of a prime Mike Tyson. Right now, he is the only man on the planet who would stand a chance of beating Oleksandr Usyk.
Usyk is now 39 years old and hasn’t fought since beating Daniel Dubois at Wembley last July. Boxing fans are now desperate to see the great Ukrainian take on Itauma before it’s too late and he heads off into retirement.
Forget Anthony Joshua or Tyson Fury. A clash of generations between Usyk and Itauma is now the fight everyone wants to see.
