GLASGOW, Scotland – There are few who don’t buy into the hype around Moses Itauma. The 20-year-old heavyweight contender stands 6ft 4ins, weighs around 250lbs, and legend has been built through his actions more than his words, based on how he has treated world-class fighters in sparring and how the southpaw has blitzed nine of 11 opponents in the pros. He has yet to go beyond six rounds. Five of his past seven opponents have not made it into the second round, while those who did have not survived Round 2.
Itauma needs rounds, and he needs experience, and that is where his manager, Francis Warren, comes in.
On Saturday, Itauma boxes American Mike Balogun in Glasgow, and Warren said he’s trying to get opponents of all sizes and styles to help round out Itauma’s education.
It seems like Itauma’s future coronation is a done deal, but Warren knows there will be obstacles to overcome on the journey ahead.
“Well, that’s the thing,” Warren told BoxingScene. “I mean, let’s just say Saturday night, you know, he’s damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t. If he goes the distance, gets some rounds in, that’s a positive for me. If he goes and knocks Mike out in one or two rounds, it’s a positive for me. But then people will say it’s too easy if it’s an early-round knockout. Or if it goes later rounds, everyone will say maybe he’s not quite the real deal.
“However, I think the most important thing here is to make sure that there’s a reason behind every opponent. You know, what he’s working on in the gym with [trainer] Ben [Davison], you go, ‘Right, let’s identify an opponent that’s going to hone that skill.’
“Until the big ones come along, we’ve got learning to do.”
And it is something the Warrens do as well as anyone. By the time Ricky Hatton fought Kostya Tzsyu, for instance, Hatton had fought tall fighters and short ones, big punchers, volume punchers, southpaws, slicksters, ambitious and experienced opponents.
“He loves a southpaw,” Warren said of Itauma with a smile. “We haven't had a real fiddler yet. I don't think that’s Mike [Balogun]. But I think it is just that, until a big opportunity comes along, we’ve got to pick guys that maybe he hasn’t been against – whatever technically it may be – that we’re trying to work on. That’s the opponents we're looking at.”
Of course, Warren has heard all of the notorious Itauma sparring stories, but he has seen plenty with his own eyes, too, that make him a firm believer in his client’s potential.
“I mean, the sparring, it’s just frightening,” he explained. “And it’s that raw aggression he’s got, non-stop, all the time.
“But also it’s the ability for him to be able to sit back and analyze what he’s doing, be self-critical – but not so overly critical that it gets him down. He literally just works at this non-stop, non-stop, non-stop.”
Depending on the opponents, Warren is hoping to get Itauma out in July, October and possibly December. The type of fight in December could be the one that many assume Itauma is already ready for.
“After this [fight with Balogun] he should be No. 1 with the WBO,” Warren said of Itauma. “Obviously we’ve got the slight benefit of the fact that there’s a bit of a logjam at the top [of the division].
“So let them guys sort themselves out. And we’re waiting to be called mandatory, whether it’s the end of the year or Q1 of 2026.”
Warren whispered that Itauma would take on Joseph Parker now, and he believes a future fight with the fighter’s Queensberry Promotions banner mate Daniel Dubois, who currently wears the IBF title, is inevitable.
“Definitely,” said Warren. “I think it's a massive fight. And I think that it's a fight that Queensberry definitely will want to do. I think Moses has got a bit of learning to do.
“Daniel's come on two or three notches since ... by getting those rounds, having tough fights against [Oleksandr] Usyk, [Jarrell] Miller, [Filip] Hrgovic. He’s a different animal now. Do you think that Daniel, three or four years ago, would have been able to stick it out with Miller and Hrgovic? Probably not, because he was a youngster and he was coming through and he didn’t know how to. ... Now he’s more composed, he’s calmer and he knows what he’s doing. We haven’t seen Moses get clipped across the whiskers.
“Hopefully we don’t see it too much. But we need to know how he’s going to react to that. Daniel’s an elite-level, world-class fighter and he’s been there and done it. Moses, I think he's elite level in terms of his skill set and attributes and mentality.
“But [Itauma] hasn’t had an elite fight yet. I want to see him boxing the likes of Hrgovic and [Otto] Wallin and seeing how he fares with those guys. I like the [Zhilei] Zhang fight.
“I think there’s some fights to pick off this year before we go to that next level. He’s 20. What’s the rush? It would be very foolish of me. I don’t want to be a guy that drops a ball and rushes the potential next superstar of world boxing just because he’s been impatient or because he can run before he can walk. Do I think he’d fare well against an Usyk? Absolutely. Do we need to find out right now? Absolutely not.”
Factoring in Itauma’s age and pedigree, and with the likes of Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Usyk much nearer the end of their careers than their starts, there is not just a vacancy for a future champion but an opportunity to reach beyond the sport.
“He already is,” said Warren of Itauma’s growth out of the ring. “I think some of the press activity that we've been doing, it’s not just around boxing. He’s been getting a lot of traction from some fashion brands. He was at the MOBOs. I think we’ve got a cultural icon on our hands here as well.
“He's a Slovakian-Nigerian with a British upbringing. From Kent.
“I think we've got a cultural icon here who will transcend sport and transcend boxing into mainstream sport. But I think beyond sport, we’ve got someone who will be recognized globally as a cultural icon.”
Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, is on The Ring ratings panel and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.