The Hook: Teenager Moses Itauma is 'scarily reminiscent of Mike Tyson'

Teenage heavyweight sensation Moses Itauma is ‘scarily reminiscent of Mike Tyson with the size of Anthony Joshua’, Alex McCarthy and Charlotte Daly claim on The Hook, as Britain’s next great boxing hope moves to 7-0

  • Moses Itauma knocked out Michal Boloz inside one round on Saturday night 
  • The teenager has plans to become the youngest ever heavyweight champion
  • Moses Itauma was brave enough to turn up at Lawrence Okolie’s gym aged 14 – now we are seeing the result – The Hook 

Moses Itauma is a ‘frightening prospect’ and ‘scarily reminiscent of Mike Tyson’, Alex McCarthy and Charlotte Daly have claimed on Mail Sport’s podcast The Hook.

The 18-year-old British boxer, who has plans to become the youngest world heavyweight champion in history, took his impressive record to 7-0 after knocking out Michal Boloz inside one round last weekend.

Tyson holds the record as boxing’s youngest ever heavyweight champion, having achieved the feat at the age of 20 after beating Trevor Berbick in 1986.

Itauma fought on the undercard of Gavin Gwynne and Emiliano Marsili’s European lightweight title fight at York Hall on Saturday night and quickly dropped Boloz, 34, midway through the first round, showing off his speed with a powerful left hook.

The teenager’s dominance continued as he struck the Pole repeatedly with a flurry of punches, sending him to the canvas again to win by knockout.

Teenage heavyweight Moses Itauma (above) is a ‘frightening prospect’ and ‘scarily reminiscent of Mike Tyson’, Alex McCarthy and Charlotte Daly have claimed on The Hook

Tyson holds the record as the youngest heavyweight champion in boxing history, having achieved the incredible feat at the age of just 20 after beating Trevor Berbick back in 1986

Mail Sport’s boxing experts McCarthy and Daly discussed how Itauma is a really exciting prospect as they covered all things boxing on latest episode of The Hook.

‘He’s really exciting to watch,’ Daly said. ‘I caught up with him in Saudi Arabia, he was over there for the Tyson Fury vs Francis Ngannou fight, and he was telling me all about his ambitions and his goals and as you said, he wants to become the youngest world heavyweight champion – which would be an amazing feat if he does it. 

‘He keeps producing these unbelievable first-round knockouts after a very impressive amateur career, but he hasn’t become that household name yet, and that’s what he really wants. 

‘And if you talk to him, he’s saying that’s what he wants and he’s pressuring Frank Warren to put him in big fights. He’s only 18, and he’s already got his sights set. He knows he’s gonna be a world champion. It’s not whether he will be a world champion. It’s about when for him, which I think is amazing that he even has that mindset.’

McCarthy added: ‘He’s already won world honours in his amateur career and he’s only 18! Consider that Joe Joyce didn’t turn pro till in his 30s because he was chasing the Olympic dream and had that long amateur career. And many other fighters will go into their mid-20s before they actually turn to professional ranks.

Itauma took his record to 7-0 after knocking out Michal Boloz inside one round on Saturday

He met up with Tyson (above) in Saudi Arabia while watching Tyson Fury vs Francis Ngannou

‘Itauma is 18 now and he’s 7 and 0, five knockouts. And the one he got at the weekend with the left hook set-up was scarily reminiscent of Tyson in the way that he went about his movements. 

‘He’s got a lot of jerk in his hips and (it’s impressive) the way he comes in low and then explodes. He punches a lot faster than I think AJ (Anthony Joshua) or (Tyson) Fury or anyone else did at that age or do now.

‘And he’s 6ft 6in! I’m saying he’s like Mike Tyson, but this is a big man and he hasn’t even properly filled out – maybe he’s gonna get a few inches taller – but it’s a frightening prospect when you think about all of the intangible tools and the physical advantages he’s already got, but the acumen he’s showing on top of that.’

Itauma met up with Tyson over in Saudi Arabia while watching Battle of the Baddest and told the boxing legend how he plans to fight ‘quality’ opponents in a bid to rise to the very top.

‘Right now I’m thinking eight fights this year, eight fights next year, then we’ll see what we can come up with,’ he told Tyson. ‘But, I want eight quality fights, not eight bums, do you know what I mean?’

The 57-year-old American responded: ‘Any fight with a fighter is quality, because anything can happen in there, anything, do you know what I’m saying? There is no such things as bums.

‘I used to say people were bums until I made my comeback to box that division, then I realised there was no bums, that’s hard work.’

Itauma no doubt has a fearless and ambitious attitude, but Daly was keen to question whether the teenager has star appeal, similar to that of former British Olympic champion AJ.

The youngster moves like Tyson but stands at 6ft 6in tall and has an incredible physical frame

Former Olympic champion Anthony Joshua (above), who was once viewed as the ‘golden boy’ of British boxing, celebrated victory against Jermaine Franklin at The O2 Arena in April

‘AJ has become the golden boy of British boxing. Do you think Moses has what it takes to get there?’ she asked McCarthy.

He responded: ‘I do in the sense that there’s a lot of pay-per-view power and stardom in knockout fighters. A lot of careers start that way and can you keep that devastating element that people want to pay to see? 

‘Conor McGregor, that’s how he rose to acclaim in UFC, yes he talked a lot of trash, but when you’re knocking out people in 13 seconds to win titles or even the way he dismantled Eddie Alvarez to become double champ, everything he said he did. And that’s a crucial part of the allure. You can talk about it but you’ve got to walk it as well.

‘Okay, (Itauma) hasn’t fought anybody of note yet, it’s not as if he’s taken out even national competitors at this stage, but he is delivering on early promise. AJ built it in a very similar way. Until AJ really met Wladimir Klitschko, he kind of walked through everybody.’


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