At just 21 years old, Moses Itauma is already being spoken about as a future heavyweight champion.
For many observers, it feels less like a question of if, and more a question of when. Itauma, however, is quick to push back on that assumption.
“It's not an easy thing to just do,” he says after a long day of promoting Saturday’s fight with Jermaine Franklin at Manchester’s Co-op Live. “People casually say it like it's easy, but I've still got to put a lot of hard work into it.”
The expectations are understandable.
Itauma is 13-0 with 11 knockouts, and his rapid rise has already made him one of the most talked about fighters in the sport. But even at this early stage of his career, the realities of the division are beginning to present themselves.
It has already become increasingly difficult to match Itauma. Many of the division’s elite are already looking elsewhere or demanding high purses when proposed with an offer to fight the 21-year-old.
Even Oleksandr Usyk did not mention the youngster when asked for his final three bouts.
“When I first started professionally, I wanted to be a world champion by the age of 20. So, I'm not surprised at all,” says Itauma of his struggles finding an opponent.
While others talk up Itauma as the next star of British boxing, he insists his own ambitions have always been simple.
“Since I've turned professional, I’ve just wanted to get a world title. I wanted to make some money, and selling out stadiums or arenas across the world was never really something that I wanted to do,” he says ahead of headlining the UK’s biggest indoor arena this Saturday. “I just wanted that lifestyle, just the respect of being a boxer.
“So, I don't really care, I don't really pay too much attention to all that.”
Franklin has been brought in from the U.S. in a hope of giving the young Itauma rounds this weekend. The hard-hitting British heavyweight has never been past Round 6. His 2025 campaign consisted of just five minutes and 45 seconds worth of ring action after blitzing through his last two opponents, Mike Balogun and Whyte, early.
Franklin has never been stopped, and his two defeats come against Whyte and Anthony Joshua, both by decision.
“I actually think it might be my toughest fight,” says Itauma. “The reason why I say that is because what he does very well, there's still question marks, whereas Dillian Whyte, there's a lot of things to exploit in his game, [same with] Dempsey McKean, to be honest. Although he went 12 rounds with Hrgovic, I personally didn't think that he was great, but Jermaine Franklin, I actually do feel like he's a solid fighter.
“So, yeah, I'm ready for him.”
Many reporters and pundits will dive deep into analyzing Saturday’s experienced and durable foe, but for Itauma it’s much simpler.
“You lot think about boxing a lot more than I actually do. I don't deep it as much as this,” Itauma says with a smile. “Like... I just box. Jermaine Franklin got presented to me, so I accepted it. I'm not like, ‘Yeah, I want to be the most fit.’ I don't care about none of that stuff. You're forgotten in the next couple of years anyway.”
One wonders how Itauma has found such a mature approach to the sport at such a young age?
“How else am I meant to be? Am I meant to be excited?” says Itauma, almost offended by the question. “You're a product of your environment, so I guess my family, my upbringing, my brothers, they all have a big part of it. They all have a big part to play.”
Yet even with that grounded outlook, the demands of professional boxing are never ending.
“I don't feel like I'm ever in the noise,” Itauma says. “I don't keep social media on my phone. I don't talk to too many people when I'm not boxing. I feel like it's kind of a role that you have to switch on and off, but it's not. It's on 24/7. And that's probably the frustrating thing, so I don't really switch off. I'm just kind of always switched on, to be honest.”
Itauma’s rapid rise has also exposed him to the realities of the professional game – a world far removed from the simplicity of the amateur ranks.
“I wouldn't really say I’ve learned how much boxing is a business, but more how many business-minded people are in the sport, if that makes sense,” he says. “I think at the end of the day, to a core, boxing is still a sport. It's just the fact that there's so many businessmen trying to make money out of it. So, I probably would say, yeah, there's a lot more contracts, a lot more talks, a lot more smoke than when I first started professional boxing.”
For now, Moses Itauma is content to keep things simple, even if the sport refuses to.
Tom Ivers is a lifelong fight fan and former amateur boxer who has a master’s degree in sports journalism. Tom joined BoxingScene in 2024 and is now a key part of the UK and social media teams.
