Mike Tyson once issued a stern warning to Moses Itauma – tipped by Tyson Fury to take over from Oleksandr Usyk as the king of heavyweight boxing. The boxing legend shut down rising star Itauma’s comments about the heavyweight division, stating: “No, there are no bums”.
Usyk still reigns supreme over the division following his second win over Fury last Saturday, having won by unanimous decision with 116-112 across the scorecards. He retained his WBA, WBC, and WBO titles and maintained his undefeated record in the process.
However, with Usyk now 37 and both Fury and Anthony Joshua’s best years gone, the boxing world is awaiting its next dominant force. 19-year-old British sensation Itauma is one fighter tipped to become a heavyweight great, having been dubbed the ‘British Mike Tyson’.
He fought on the undercard of Usyk vs Fury 2, dismantling Demsey McKean and earning a first-round TKO victory in Riyadh to push his impressive record to 11-0. Slovakia-born Itauma’s prowess is becoming increasingly clear, but it’s something his sparring partner Fury predicted back in March of this year.
The Gypsy King shared a photo of himself alongside Itauma after a sparring session with the caption: “Moses Itauma is the future of the heavyweight division.” The former champion also confessed that he would never face Itauma 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, the southpaw has already secured nine professional victories through stoppage since his debut in January 2023. His explosive fighting style and meteoric rise have seen him likened to former undisputed world champion ‘Iron Mike’, with Tyson himself offering Itauma words of wisdom when they met ringside last year.
After Itauma’s sixth pro win against Istvan Bernath, the boxing icon asked: “How many fights do you get a year?” to which Itauma responded: “A lot,” adding: “I’m thinking eight fights this year, eight fights next year and then we’ll see what we can come up with. But I want eight quality fights, not eight bums.”
Tyson countered with sage advice, stating: “No, no, no, listen. Any fight is a quality fight because anything can happen in there. There’s no such thing as bums. I used to say people are bums until I made my comeback. You can learn from any fight.” Itauma then nodded in agreement.
He has stepped into the ring four more times this year, building on his impressive seven fights from 2023. He’s also openly shared his ambition to shatter Tyson’s record as the youngest world heavyweight champion—a title Tyson clinched at 20 years old.
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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