Rising British star Moses Itauma has admitted that breaking Mike Tyson’s record for the youngest heavyweight world champion is “impossible.”
Tyson became the world champion at 20 years and four months old in 1986, a milestone Itauma surpassed in age this past Saturday.
“When I turned professional, I was focused on chasing that record. But now that it’s off the table, I’m just taking my time with it,” Itauma shared on the BBC’s 5 Live Boxing with Steve Bunce podcast.
“In the first two months of my professional career, I realised that goal was impossible. I was naive when I said that. I said it before turning pro,” Itauma admitted. “I didn’t realise how much is out of your control in boxing. Since I’ve turned pro, world champions like Daniel Dubois, Oleksandr Usyk, and Tyson Fury have been on top. There’s no way I would have put myself in a position to fight them in just two years.”
Itauma’s impressive two-round knockout of Mike Balogun on Saturday pushed his record to 12 wins, with 10 knockouts. Initially marketed as the teen set to break Tyson’s record, Itauma denied that it was simply a “marketing strategy” for his career.
Itauma is expected to challenge for a world title in the coming years, with potential opponents like Joe Joyce, Martin Bakole, Jermaine Franklin, and Otto Wallin being linked to him. His promoter, Frank Warren, has also mentioned that Itauma could fight on the undercard of Daniel Dubois’ world title bout against Oleksandr Usyk on 19 July at Wembley Stadium.
However, Itauma doesn’t expect his next fight to be against a big name. His team aims to get him into some “10-round fights” before stepping up to face bigger opponents.
“There are tough guys out there without big names. It’s not ideal,” he said. “You want a tough opponent with a good name, but they aren’t cheap.”
