On Saturday night the 21-year-old Moses Itauma expects to become the second-youngest world heavyweight champion in history, after Mike Tyson, when he fights Croatia’s Filip Hrgovic for the IBF title at the O2 Arena in London. In an attempt to sift through the hype and to assess the potential Itauma has shown, the Guardian asked Barry Jones and Andy Lee for their expert views on the strengths and possible weaknesses of the young British fighter.
Itauma promises to become the dominant new force of the unpredictable heavyweight division but Hrgovic is his first real test as he strives to become a world champion in just his 15th fight.
Jones, a former WBO super‑featherweight world champion, is now the leading pundit in British boxing. His trenchant insights are matched only by Lee, who won the WBO world middleweight title before becoming the best trainer in Britain and Ireland. They shared their considered views of the most exciting heavyweight fighter to have emerged in years.
Barry Jones
I’d heard lots of stories about Moses Itauma when he was sparring with really good fighters [as a 15‑year‑old]. The word was that heavyweights needed to avoid this teenager. But you know how people exaggerate, and we all get super‑excited with the big guys.
But then I started watching him fight and his movement immediately set him apart. I didn’t understand how he could think and move so quick. Most heavyweights are so focused on hitting the target because once they land they can hurt the opponent. But Itauma finds angles and moves off the punches. He’s physically gifted but being able to use your brain is far more important.
I often say what you do after the punch is almost as important as the punch itself. Some fighters throw a good shot and they’re guilty of admiring their work. Or else they throw the punch and move too fast which means they’re not getting any purchase on the shot. But Itauma punches with power and precision and he knows how and when to move.
The only other heavyweight that does this today is Oleksandr Usyk and the reason is that he and Itauma have boxed at lighter weights. Most heavyweights were heavyweights as kids and they don’t learn that skill set where you punch and move and learn the intricate parts. But Usyk and Itauma learned how to move their feet, how to punch with speed, and how to find the angle of attack. So Itauma’s brain is geared like a middleweight, his speed is like a light‑heavyweight and his power belongs to a heavyweight. That’s an unbelievable combination.
People are calling him the best young heavyweight since Mike Tyson. I would say Tyson’s skill set is massively underrated now because all we remember is him putting people to sleep. He was ferocious and brutal but his knockouts were built on a fantastic fast jab and he would bend his legs as he punched. Itauma does it differently because he positions himself just off the angle of the line. If we take the line being a massive hand right in front of you, he will move around that target whereas Tyson, being much shorter, came up from under the lead at terrific speed.
Itauma wants you to jab. He’ll be patient and he’ll wait and, once you throw it, he fends off and comes at you from different angles. He can come at you from either side, or from the inside, or over the top. Heavyweights are not used to turning and they’re not used to thinking. The mental stress manifests itself physically very quickly with a big guy. When you have to turn and move, and your brain’s constantly thinking, it’s draining. It happens in all weights but the big men get knackered very quickly by someone who moves and makes them think. Itauma darts, feints and has fast hands. Like Usyk, he makes you miss and then he makes you pay.
You’ve interviewed him, so you know how difficult an interviewee he is, but also how thoughtful he is with his answers. He thinks about everything and he thinks before he speaks. And he thinks before he punches and moves. It’s the sign of any good sportsman to think on your feet in a pressure situation. You can’t teach that. You’ve either got it or you haven’t.
Hrgovic is a decent test but that’s a lot to do with his heart rather than his skill set. Once Itauma gets into his rhythm, it’s going to be hard to stop him. So that solid jab has to be a real weapon for Hrgovic and he has to really work at a quick pace, otherwise he’s done. I’ll tell you what Hrgovic does well. He chops down with the right hand. He then brings the elbow up and it gives a crane effect on the shot. It’s a real sledgehammer. That’s the shot, with the jab, I’m worried about for Itauma. But I think he’ll make it easy and after he beats Hrgovic you can let him off the leash.
The old guard of heavyweights are going and, in my opinion, the quicker they go the better. Let them do their own little world tour and good luck to them. But there’s a new breed now of heavyweights. None of the others are stellar but Moses is the brightest light by a million miles.
People ask if there is a danger in overhyping him. No. Of course we can’t know for sure but isn’t that the good part? Getting really excited and believing in a young heavyweight? I would back Moses Itauma all the way to become a great fighter.
Andy Lee
The first time I saw Moses Itauma up close was when he came to Saudi Arabia to spar with my heavyweight Joseph Parker, who was preparing to fight [the giant Chinese heavyweight] Zhilei Zhang [in March 2024]. He was with us for two weeks and he was very impressive. The spars were actually harder than the fight – and Joseph was put down twice by Zhang [before winning a majority decision]. So that tells you how good Moses was as a young heavyweight. When he and Joe went sparring it was like a four-round war.
Moses has real speed, size, strength and good power. But as fast as he is with his hands and feet, he’s sharper with his mind. I love the way he can assess his opponent and pick his shots really well. Joseph was the top heavyweight at the time and, like all young guys [Itauma was 19 then] coming in to spar, they try to impress and leave their mark. He certainly did that and we spent a lot of time together. He’s a lovely guy.
It’s a big call to compare him to Mike Tyson but he’s got immense promise. But the heavyweight division is really unpredictable. You can’t know for sure what’s going to happen. It can go so well and then, all of a sudden, everything can change and turn bad.
In Hrgovic, he’s got a world‑rated heavyweight in front of him. Hrgovic has looked vulnerable so he could be the perfect opponent for Moses. But he could also be the right opponent to take him into deep waters and really test him. As a fighter, you don’t really know how you’re going to react until you’re in those rounds 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. Those are the rounds where you really find out what you’re made of, and everybody else finds out what you’re made of too. It’s one thing to do it in sparring. But it’s in the fight that it really counts.
Moses beat Jermaine Franklin is his last fight [on a fifth-round stoppage in March]. I thought it was a spectacular knockout. But just before the knockout, there were little signs of distress which you would expect to see from a young fighter. You’ve landed shots that usually knock out or stop your opponent but this guy is still not going down. So I think the knockout came at the perfect time for Moses.
There is no doubt the heavyweights are an ageing division. All the former champions and big names are well into their 30s now – and so it could open up for Moses to go on and dominate. You ask if he has any weaknesses and it’s hard to see them. At the moment I don’t see any.
But the questions he still has not answered are not technical, they’re not on ability. They’re not on speed or power. The questions which remain to be answered are internal. They’re emotional and they’re characteristics we’ll never know until he gets into a hard fight. They need to be proven. We just don’t know but he might have that as well and then, if he does, we’ll be talking about a really special heavyweight.
