Will Moses Itauma be the best ever British heavyweight?

[Jimmy2025]

premature to even bother thinking about

Depends on what your interests are, I suppose. Mine is heavyweight boxing. We've not had a good heavyweight turn pro since Fury, and that was 16 years ago. I think that given my age, Itauma will be the last good British heavyweight whose career I'll get to follow (if I'm lucky). No other Brit can handle him in the gym already and he is barely 20. Why not think about how good he might be?

You do realize Daniel Dubios is a current world champion?

He holds a belt. In this context when I say 'good', I mean in all time terms. Dubois is a powerful, strong, fairly quick athlete but a paint by numbers boxer.

[KiwiRider]

Depends on what your interests are, I suppose. Mine is heavyweight boxing. We've not had a good heavyweight turn pro since Fury, and that was 16 years ago. I think that given my age, Itauma will be the last good British heavyweight whose career I'll get to follow (if I'm lucky). No other Brit can handle him in the gym already and he is barely 20. Why not think about how good he might be?

You do realize Daniel Dubios is a current world champion?

He holds a belt. In this context when I say 'good', I mean in all time terms. Dubois is a powerful, strong, fairly quick athlete but a paint by numbers boxer.

Okay, he is also very young for a champion and has plenty of time to develop a resume.
Also, speaking of resumes, Anthony Joshua 's resume still outshines Tyson Fury
So listing Tyson Fury as the last "good" British heavyweight is a bit of a disservice.

[Jimmy2025]

You do realize Daniel Dubios is a current world champion?

He holds a belt. In this context when I say 'good', I mean in all time terms. Dubois is a powerful, strong, fairly quick athlete but a paint by numbers boxer.

Okay, he is also very young for a champion and has plenty of time to develop a resume.
Also, speaking of resumes, Anthony Joshua 's resume still outshines Tyson Fury
So listing Tyson Fury as the last "good" British heavyweight is a bit of a disservice.

I fully understand the point you and others are making. Fury had the potential to be great and flunked it post Klitschko. IMO Itauma has that potential too. I don't believe Joshua or Dubois had/have that potential. They have achieved a lot and I like watching both.

[Delta Jay]

He is really Slovakian!

Nah man, this guy is half Nigerian and Slovakian, born in Slovakia and grew up in Kent. He’s been fighting since day one. No wonder he’s so hard

[TheLeprechaun]

Itauma has been cans and old fodder as of yet. We saw people saying David Price was the second coming and look how that turned out. I don't think he will be able to let his hands go as easily against faster opponents. When I saw him against Espindola, a journeyman who was throwing back, he was just looking for single punches. You need to see world class attributes, speed, reflexes, head movement, slipping, parrying, defence, footwork, then you have to evaluate his offence, boxing iq and all that is for nout if he turns out to have poor stamina or heart. It's a terrible question to be asking on the knowledge we have and if you are saying he will be then you must be connected to the team or have some extreme patriotism.

[Riddick Bowie]

It's worth questioning Lennox's British credentials given that he left here when he 10 and learned to box in Canada, who he represented in the Olympics. He literally only boxed out of the UK for cynical reasons. In his own words at the time (in a serious PR gaffe): "I like Britain. I love Canada."

Some Brits get very touchy about this subject because they need Lennox to be British because it makes them feel good about themselves for some reason.

[Jimmy2025]

...It's a terrible question to be asking on the knowledge we have and if you are saying he will be then you must be connected to the team or have some extreme patriotism.

It may indeed be a terrible question to ask with the knowledge you have. I have close to zero patriotism. I am not involved with his team.

[KiwiRider]

I hope he gains the frequent fights with gradually higher ranked opponents so we can answer a few fundamental questions.
Too many easy fights does not a HW champion make- unless your name is Wilder, but that was some super selective matchmaking I don't expect to see in the Saudi backed HW era we are in now.

[Taansend]

It's worth questioning Lennox's British credentials.....

It really isn't, Mate. It's almost four decades since he turned pro. And over two since he retired. I was at both bouts.

It's time to let it go.

Move on.

[Delta Jay]

Probably not. But he looks dead good at the very start of his career.

[CaptainSpacerod]

An interesting test of how his stamina and heart is would be to put him in against another novice heavyweight Lawrence Okolie.

Could he deal with big Lawrence mauling and wrestling him around the ring for 10 rounds

[Bobbyptsd]

Slovakian+Nigerian = "British"

[KiwiRider]

An interesting test of how his stamina and heart is would be to put him in against another novice heavyweight Lawrence Okolie.

Could he deal with big Lawrence mauling and wrestling him around the ring for 10 rounds

Aww man.

[Jimmy2025]

An interesting test of how his stamina and heart is would be to put him in against another novice heavyweight Lawrence Okolie.

Could he deal with big Lawrence mauling and wrestling him around the ring for 10 rounds

Would it make financial sense for Larry to fight him? Risk:reward.

Okolie has been quite open about the fact that the most difficult spar he has ever had was with a 15-year-old Itauma.

P.s. Okolie at heavyweight is a threat right up the chain. He can crack, box and is huge bloke.

[Riddick Bowie]

It's worth questioning Lennox's British credentials.....

It really isn't, Mate. It's almost four decades since he turned pro. And over two since he retired. I was at both bouts.

It's time to let it go.

Move on.

I didn't bring it up, someone else did, but it's reasonable to question. His Brit credentials were dubious.

Very cool you were at both fights tho.

[CaptainSpacerod]

An interesting test of how his stamina and heart is would be to put him in against another novice heavyweight Lawrence Okolie.

Could he deal with big Lawrence mauling and wrestling him around the ring for 10 rounds

Would it make financial sense for Larry to fight him? Risk:reward.

Okolie has been quite open about the fact that the most difficult spar he has ever had was with a 15-year-old Itauma.

P.s. Okolie at heavyweight is a threat right up the chain. He can crack, box and is huge bloke.

I think you’re right about it not being financially viable for him.

I’m not sold on Okolie, the better guys won’t fall over as soon as he hits them and the bigger guys won’t be as susceptible to his clinching and grabbing and wrestling

Is he still with Joe Gallagher ?

[Taansend]

It's worth questioning Lennox's British credentials.....

It really isn't, Mate. It's almost four decades since he turned pro. And over two since he retired. I was at both bouts.

It's time to let it go.

Move on.

I didn't bring it up, someone else did, but it's reasonable to question. His Brit credentials were dubious.

Very cool you were at both fights tho.

As I said earlier in this thread. HE considers himself Canadian, British & Jamaican. That should really be the only opinion that matters.

Yeah, his first bout (Al Malcolm?) was when I was going to loads of boxing shows all over London & area.

The final bout v Klitschko I was working on cruise ships & had just married a bird from San Diego & got back from our honeymoon the week before so didn't want to miss the chance. I knew it would be a tough fight but too many were reading into Vitali quitting against Chris Byrd. Great fight though. I've been lucky enough to see loads of good fighters at that arena.

B-Hop v Dawson was a good bill with the one & only Dewey Bozella on the undercard. Loma v Crolla was decent too.

[KiwiRider]

The short answer is no, Moses will not be the best ever British heavyweight.
After tense discussions with David Tua and Joseph Parker, Moses is now adopting New Zealand as his home country.
Within hours of this judgement, Australia poached Moses and he now fights out of the Galah Gym in Woggawogga.
He will use ACDC I've Got Big Balls as his ring walk music, and is currently growing out an impressive afro mullet.

[Taansend]

Anyone remember when some people were saying Pele Reid would be Britain's best heavyweight

Then he lost to a bloke who i went to school with*

* - by "with" he was in the 5th year when I was in the 1st year in a boys school with 2200 pupils

[Twinkle Toes]

He could be the future of the division as it's not looking to clever. Time will tell, but to be the best of an era doesn't make you the best ever or even close.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Depends on what your interests are, I suppose. Mine is heavyweight boxing. We've not had a good heavyweight turn pro since Fury, and that was 16 years ago. I think that given my age, Itauma will be the last good British heavyweight whose career I'll get to follow (if I'm lucky). No other Brit can handle him in the gym already and he is barely 20. Why not think about how good he might be?

You do realize Daniel Dubios is a current world champion?

He holds a belt. In this context when I say 'good', I mean in all time terms. Dubois is a powerful, strong, fairly quick athlete but a paint by numbers boxer.

Bang on, dubois is very limited. He's obviously not shit, he's way better than the vast majority of current heavyweights, but ffs, he was outboxed by Joyce.

[margaret thatcher]

dubois quick? i dont see it, he's a heavy handed and fit but lumbering guy

hrgovic looked like larry holmes for 5 rounds against him

[Coco]

Anyone remember when some people were saying Pele Reid would be Britain's best heavyweight

Then he lost to a bloke who i went to school with*

* - by "with" he was in the 5th year when I was in the 1st year in a boys school with 2200 pupils

Orlin Norris or Julius Francis

[Nightmare Roy]

He looks very good but it's WAY too early to know and eclipsing Lennox who is probably an top 3 ATG will take some doing.

[Jimmy2025]

He looks very good but it's WAY too early to know and eclipsing Lennox who is probably an top 3 ATG will take some doing.

It's absolutely an early call and it might be my 'Chambers Moment' (I remember him driving the A-Train 25 years ago or so on these forums), but I am putting my neck on the line. Usyk has now come out and said that Itauma is his most likely successor, so that's promising.