Why Oleksandr Usyk’s verdict on Moses Itauma is the most credible statement in heavyweight boxing right now
By Bayo Adelaja · Sports Correspondent, Newstexts.com · July 28, 2026
“Itauma, for me, is a special guy. No trash talking. Just training. The Future.” — Oleksandr Usyk
When Oleksandr Usyk speaks about a boxer, the heavyweight world listens. They listen because this is the man who dismantled Anthony Joshua twice, dethroned Tyson Fury to become undisputed champion, and retired from professional boxing without having lost a single fight across 24 professional outings. His word on future talent is not a promotional sound bite. It is a verdict from the court of last resort.
And the man Usyk has endorsed — without hesitation, without caveats — as the future of the heavyweight division is a 21-year-old born of Nigerian blood in a small Slovak mountain town, raised in working-class Kent, England, and now being spoken of in the same breath as the legends of the sport’s most glamorous weight class.
His name is Moses Itauma. And the evidence, piled fight by fight, suggests Usyk is not just right. He may be underplaying it.
FIGHTER PROFILE — MOSES ITAUMA
| Date of Birth | 28 December 2004 (Age 21) | Heritage | Nigerian father / Slovak mother |
| Birthplace | Kežmarok, Slovakia | Base | Chatham, Kent, England |
| Height / Reach | 6ft 4½in · 79in reach (201cm) | Stance | Southpaw |
| Pro Record | 14–0 (12 KOs) — 86% KO rate | Amateur Record | 24–0 · 11 KOs · 8 Gold Medals |
| Current Rankings | WBA #1 · WBO #1 · WBC #3 · IBF #3 | Next Fight | Filip Hrgovic · 29 Aug 2026 · O2 Arena, London |
ROOTS: THE NIGERIAN BLUEPRINT
Moses Itauma proudly traces his Nigerian heritage through his father, and describes his roots and family as a constant source of pride. His father, who had previously lived in the UK, brought the family from Kežmarok — a small Slovak town just a few miles from the Carpathian mountains — to England, eventually settling in Chatham, Kent, in 2008. Moses was still a toddler. He grew up British, but the Nigerian thread was never cut.
Nigeria has a proud combat sports tradition, particularly in boxing, producing legends like Dick Tiger and, more recently, former unified world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua and Efe Ajagba. Itauma is the latest product of that lineage — not by geography, but by blood. He has spoken about visiting Nigeria and being struck by the warmth and joy of the people, something he recognises as part of his own character.
The family had faced significant racial discrimination in Slovakia, which led them to move to England. Moses himself said: “Me and my brothers got racially abused. It wasn’t a good place to be.” That displacement — difficult as it was — deposited Moses Itauma into Chatham’s St Mary’s ABC gym, one of the most productive decisions fate has ever made on behalf of the sport.
His real first name is Enriko, named after his mother’s favourite musician, Enrique Iglesias. When he turned professional, he chose to go by Moses — his middle name — because it sounded strong for a heavyweight.
That deliberate thinking says something about the person behind the fighter. He trains under Ben Davison at the same Essex facility as Anthony Joshua and Fabio Wardley. “I have a military-like discipline from my mother’s side and I am just a genetic freak from my father’s side,” he has said. Two continents. One fighter.
THE MAKING OF A CHAMPION: AMATEUR DOMINANCE
Before a single professional promoter knew his name, Moses Itauma was already collecting gold. His amateur record stands as one of the most decorated in British boxing history for his age group — and he never lost a single bout in 24 outings.
| 2017 | English Schools Gold Medal — First amateur bout: February 2017 vs Alfie Cribben, won on points. |
| 2018 | European Schoolboys Gold Medal — International pedigree established at age 13. |
| 2019 | English Juniors Gold · European Juniors Gold · Multi-Nation BoxCup Gold — Three titles in one year at 14–15 years old. |
| 2022 | English Youth Gold · European Youth Gold · World Youth Championships Gold — Became World Youth Heavyweight Champion. Final amateur record: 24–0. |
| 2023 | Turned professional. Signed with Queensberry Promotions. Pro debut: knocked out Marcel Bode in just 23 seconds on the Beterbiev vs Yarde undercard. |
| 2024 | Continued unbeaten run. Stopped Mariusz Wach and Demsey McKean. Sparred Tyson Fury, who declared him “the future of the heavyweight division.” |
| 2025 | Stopped Mike Balogun (R2, Glasgow). Destroyed Dillian Whyte (R1 KO, Riyadh) — the biggest name to face him. Claimed Commonwealth and WBA International titles. |
| 2026 | First man to stop Jermaine Franklin (R5 TKO, Manchester). Record now 14–0, 12 KOs. Ranked WBA #1 and WBO #1. Next: Filip Hrgovic, August 29. |
THE PROFESSIONAL SURGE
Itauma is currently ranked No.1 by the WBA, No.1 by the WBO, No.3 by the WBC, and No.3 by the IBF at heavyweight. In three years as a professional, he has not merely progressed — he has accelerated, disposing of opposition at a rate that has repeatedly outpaced the scenarios his promoters planned for him.
The résumé-building moments came thick and fast in 2025. In May, he stopped Mike Balogun in the second round in Glasgow. Then, in August, he faced Dillian Whyte — assumed to be his toughest test — in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and disposed of “The Body Snatcher” by technical knockout in the first round.
“This was supposed to be the big test up in class for Itauma. He absolutely aced it — blasting out Whyte inside two minutes with a beautiful right hook that sent him crashing to the canvas.”
— Ringside analysis, FuryJoshua.com, August 2025
Then came March 2026. Manchester’s Co-op Live Arena. Jermaine Franklin — a man who had taken Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte the full distance, a man who had never been stopped in his professional career. The tough and durable Franklin could not stand up to the 21-year-old’s frightening speed and power, and was put down in Round 5 by a left uppercut that sent him face-first into the canvas.
Itauma hardly celebrated after the fight was waved off — not because his opponent still lay flat on the floor, but because he knew he’d do it and that is just what Moses Itauma does. The composure of a veteran. The age of a college student.
The composure of a veteran. The age of a college student.
THE AGE TEST — HEAVYWEIGHT GREATS AT 21
| Fighter | Record at 21 | KO Rate | Biggest Win at 21 | World Ranking |
| Moses Itauma ★ | 14–0 (12 KOs) | 86% | Dillian Whyte – R1 KO | WBA #1 · WBO #1 · WBC #3 |
| Anthony Joshua | ~3–0 | 100% | Still amateur (Olympic gold at 22) | Not yet ranked |
| Tyson Fury | ~9–0 | ~55% | Regional English contenders | Unranked internationally |
| Daniel Dubois | ~11–0 | ~91% | Nathan Gorman (domestic) | Domestic contender only |
| Oleksandr Usyk | Still amateur | — | World Amateur title (age 22) | Amateur champion |
Compiled from public boxing records. Itauma data as of July 2026. ★ = active fighter.
The comparison is stark. Since March 2024, Itauma has fought six times for a total of just nine rounds — a finishing pace that defines what separates him from a well-credentialled contender and what makes him a generational conversation. Joshua was still at the Olympics at 22. Fury was fighting journeymen in regional shows. Dubois was a domestic name. Itauma, at 21, is a unified top-three heavyweight on three of the four major sanctioning bodies’ lists.
USYK SPEAKS — AND THE WORLD AGREES
When pressed by talkSPORT on who he believes will become the next undisputed heavyweight champion, Usyk did not hesitate.
“Moses Itauma, I think, is a great fighter. Young. 20 years old. I think Itauma has a big future.”
— Oleksandr Usyk — talkSPORT interview
He has since gone further. Speaking to DAZN, the undisputed champion credited Itauma for displaying a level of maturity that belies his age, saying: “Itauma, for me, is a special guy. He’s very relaxed before fights and after fights. No trash talking. Just training. The future.”
Usyk is not alone. Tyson Fury, who sparred with Itauma in 2024 when the Kent-based fighter was still a teenager, wrote on Instagram: “Moses Itauma will wreck all them old men out of the division.” And Fury, for all his theatre and showmanship, does not do favours. When he says someone will wreck him, he means it.
“Moses Itauma will wreck all them old men out of the division.”
— Tyson Fury
Frank Warren — a promoter who has launched the careers of Naseem Hamed, Joe Calzaghe, and Tyson Fury himself — has been perhaps the most deliberate in his praise precisely because he understands the weight of what he is saying.
“I have to be very honest with you. I’ve had a lot of young, really good, talented fighters at an early age. As a heavyweight at his age — he’s 21 now — he is without a doubt the most talented and the best I’ve seen at this moment in time.”
— Frank Warren, Queensberry Promotions
WHAT’S NEXT — AND WHY IT MATTERS
Moses Itauma is scheduled to face Filip Hrgovic — a consensus top-10 heavyweight — at London’s O2 Arena on August 29, 2026. Hrgovic, the former IBF mandatory challenger, represents a real step up: a tall, rangy puncher with genuine credentials and a world-level chin. A convincing performance would all but seal a world title shot in early 2027.
Daniel Dubois, the current WBO titleholder, is expected to be tied up in a rematch with Fabio Wardley later this year, meaning any unification efforts would likely not materialise until 2027 — precisely when Itauma would arrive. The trajectory is not a projection. It is a schedule.
And he carries it all with a stillness that unnerves opponents before they even touch gloves. “I don’t think it could have gone any better,” he said after the Franklin stoppage. “If I’m being completely honest — I went the rounds that were necessary, I got a job done. And to all you lot that wanted to ask me if I got a chin, I took a shot as well. I took two shots. I finally answered some questions. So now it’s about what’s next, isn’t it?”
Indeed it is. And that “what’s next” now carries the weight of a heavyweight division’s entire succession plan.
NEWSTEXTS VERDICT:
Moses Itauma is not a prospect with potential — he is a ranked, decorated, proven contender who happens to be 21 years old. Born of Nigerian blood that runs through a lineage of champions, shaped by adversity on two continents, and honed by some of the finest boxing minds in Britain.
When Oleksandr Usyk — the greatest heavyweight of his era and the only man of his time to retire unbeaten — declares you the future of the division, the argument is over. The data backs the declaration. The fights confirm the coronation. Usyk is not just right about Moses Itauma. He may be the last credible voice in boxing who had to be convinced.
