Moses Itauma is looking forward to a competitive, exciting fight when the IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois defends his title against the “switched on” Anthony Joshua at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night.
The 19 year old heavyweight prodigy should return to the ring in November, by which point the landscape of his weight division could look markedly different.
On October 12, Itauma, 10-0 (8 KOs), will be an interested spectator when Fabio Wardley and Frazer Clarke renew hostilities in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and engage in a rematch for the British titles, but this weekend he will focus on events in London when the Dubois makes the first defence of his belt against Joshua.
“I watched the Dubois thing that TNT made – I didn’t clock how big Dubois was at 19 years, I was like, ‘Shit – I thought I was big’,” Itauma told Queensberry Promotions when asked what he thinks will happen.
“I thought it was very one-sided at first. I still kind of do feel like it’s one sided towards ‘AJ’ but not as much as I thought. I feel like Dubois’ got a good chin and he’s got a good jab. Anthony Joshua is obviously very powerful but Dubois’ got that lights out power as well, so this could be a bit sticky. I feel like AJ is going to be a bit too seasoned for him.”
Itauma has been mixing with the country’s top fighters since he was still in school, and although he has sparred both, he has shared many more rounds with Dubois.
“His jab is so underrated,” he said. “He’s got a good jab. Good chin. He’s quite fit; he has got the gas tank and he’s quite quick. He’s underrated quick.”
Although he trains in the same gym as Joshua, Itauma is on his own schedule and hasn’t been privy to Joshua’s sparring ahead of the all-British showdown, but as the first bell draws nearer, the two-time unified heavyweight champion’s aura has started to seep through the Ben Davison Performance Centre.
When he cuts loose, Joshua remains the most explosive presence in the heavyweight division, and, given the way Dubois goes about his business, all signs point towards an intense, violent encounter. Itauma has seen the tell-tale signs that Joshua is starting to prepare himself for a brutal battle.
“I haven’t seen no sparring,” Itauma said. “I haven’t sparred him since I was 16 and I only did one or two rounds so I can’t really judge anything on that.
“I can definitely see the mentality. He’s switched on. I walked into the gym yesterday. I say ‘Hello’ to everyone when I get to the gym. I gave him a fist bump and said, ‘Are you ready?’. He was like, ‘I’m fucking ready’, and he looked at me.
“I walked off. I was like, ‘OK, he’s ready for a tear up. He’s ready to hurt someone.’”
John Evans has contributed to a number of well-known publications and websites for over a decade. You can follow John on X @John_Evans79