'Moses Itauma can do more things than Mike Tyson could at 21'

Moses Itauma has been compared to Mike Tyson from the moment he turned professional at the start of 2023. Then only 18 he declared it was his intention to beat Tyson’s record and become the youngest heavyweight beltholder in history, a record set by 20-year-old Tyson in 1986 when he thrashed Trevor Berbick in two rounds to become the WBC champion.

Itauma – today widely regarded as the best contender in the division – may not have achieved that feat but, at 21, he’s doing things that even Tyson wasn’t at that age according to Teddy Atlas, a former coach of “Iron” Mike’s.

Atlas and Tyson fell out when the future champ was still a teenager but he remains an authority on the heavyweight’s development and career. And, so far, he likes what he sees in young Itauma who is set for his toughest test on August 29 when he is expected to take on perennial contender Filip Hrgovic. After the bout with Hrgovic was signed and sealed, the IBF ordered Itauma and Frank Sanchez to begin negotiations to contest their vacant belt. At the time of this writing, the outcome of those talks remain unclear, however.

Regardless, Itauma is within touching distance of a major fight.

When it comes to top-level fights, the 14-0 (12 KOs) is behind Tyson, who at 21 had unified all three alphabet belts, but given the landscape is vastly different these days, the Slovakia-born contender has nonetheless impressed observers as he’s moved up the ranks. Mariusz Wach was finished in two rounds. None of Demsey McKean, Mike Balogun or Dillian Whyte made it into the third round. And while stopping Jermaine Franklin in five, Itauma exhibited he had versatility and patience to compliment his natural spite.

“Where Itauma is different from Tyson is that he is more dimensional,” Atlas told CanadaCasino.

“He can do more things. He can box a little bit, he can counterpunch, I have seen him set traps, he can go get you, he can go in the trenches, he can go in close, go to the body, go to the head and put punches together. Tyson was more of a one-direction seek-and-destroy machine, but a very good one. Tyson created opportunities for his speed and power by being aggressive and smart, moving his head and making you miss and pay.

“But you pretty much always knew what you were going to get.

“The greatest similarity is speed and power. Itauma is one of the first heavyweights since Tyson where I can say he shows you that combination of pure speed and pure power that Tyson showed. No other heavyweights really showed that combination with both hands the way Tyson did. Tyson became legendary because of that combination of speed, power and ferociousness. He scared people. Itauma is starting to scare people a little bit too, maybe not just with the way he attacks, but with his talent. He is starting to get to that place a little bit, not where Tyson was, but a little bit.

“I think Itauma is going to continue in the direction he is going, which is towards the heavyweight title.”