Moses Itauma’s next fight is the biggest of his young life – a vacant IBF heavyweight world title shot against Filip Hrgovic on August 29. Yet asked about the hardest night he has ever had in a ring, the 21-year-old didn’t reach for a professional name at all.
Itauma has torn through the paid ranks, winning 12 of his 14 fights by knockout and never once going beyond the sixth round. Instead, the Kent heavyweight reached back to his decorated amateur days – 24 wins and gold at Youth World level – to name the contest that troubled him most: a 2019 junior semi-final against British cruiserweight Aloys Youmbi, now the WBA’s #8-ranked cruiserweight and one of the fiercest domestic punchers on Britain’s crowded heavyweight scene a division below.
Speaking to talkSPORT, in comments carried by Boxing News Online, Itauma was refreshingly candid about the beating.
I just thought that I would go in there and try to stop him and I left the ring with a concussion… He was definitely my toughest fight, as an amateur.
Moses Itauma’s next fight: Hrgovic awaits
There is a neat twist, too: Youmbi features on the very same August 29 undercard, facing Cuba’s Mike Perez. First, though, Itauma must get past Hrgovic – the sternest test of his professional career so far, if not, by his own admission, his life.
