MANCHESTER, England – The meteoric rise of young heavyweight Moses Itauma since he turned professional just three years ago has drawn comparisons to that of Mike Tyson.

It’s not hard to see why. The 13-0 Itauma has 11 knockouts to his name and has a habit of getting his foes out of there quickly and violently, much like “Iron” Mike did during his heyday. In fact, Itauma only managed 5 minutes and 45 seconds of in-ring action last year after blasting through opponents Mike Balogun and Dillian Whyte. That has led to his promoter, Frank Warren, drafting in Jermaine Franklin in hopes of giving Itauma rounds this Saturday at Manchester’s Co-op Live.

Perhaps the most striking comparison between the 21-year-old Itauma and Tyson is their success at such a young age. Professional boxing is a man’s game, which makes it impressive that Itauma is already being considered the heir to Oleksandr Usyk’s throne, and even fancied by some to become the one to blemish the Ukrainian’s perfect 24-0 record. Tyson was, and still is, the heavyweight division’s youngest-ever champion, defeating Trevor Berbick in 1986 at just 20 years old. Itauma set out to break Tyson’s record but fell short when he turned 21 in December. The comparisons still continue.

“I like it and I don't, because obviously it's great to be compared to such a legend in the sport, but I feel like the comparison is success at a young age,” Itauma told BoxingScene and other reporters. “Apart from that, there's not really much to say that we're very similar. I guess we're kind of polar opposite. I guess we both just love knockouts.”

Itauma, mature beyond his years, may be right. The comparisons largely end there. He may not yet have a belt wrapped around his waist like Tyson did at 21 – in fact Tyson held all three available by his age – but he also carries none of the chaos that came with it. Tyson was a beast in the ring, but his true struggles came outside of it.

Itauma is a stark contrast. He never gets ahead of himself and appears uninterested in the cameras and the world of social media. All he is focused on is the fight, the belts and his family.

So how does he avoid the path that consumed Tyson in his younger years?

“I think you have to have the right people around, and I feel like you need to have the difficult conversations sometimes,” said Itauma, from Chatham, Kent. “I feel like a lot of people need to have difficult conversations that they choose to avoid. It's unknown, but like I said, I know that I've got Jermaine Franklin and I know what the crack is with that, and whatever the future is, the future is, isn't it?

“I can take what I like about Mike Tyson, but it doesn't mean I have to be that person. I've always said, my blessing from being in Tyson Fury's camp was being able to speak to him and spending time around him, picking up on certain things. Like when I went to train with him in Malta and in Saudi Arabia, I had conversations that I needed to have, do you get what I mean? And it's like, when I'm obviously rubbing shoulders with Anthony Joshua [Itauma’s former stablemate] and that's more of a bigger blessing.

“With Mike Tyson, I can appreciate the career he's had. That doesn't mean I need to be like him, because I'm my own man.”

That doesn’t mean Itauma isn’t listening when the right lessons are being imparted. Not only has he sharpened his skills by sharing gyms with two of the most decorated heavyweights of the modern era in Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, but his mindset has developed there, too.

“The biggest lesson I've learned from Tyson Fury would probably be, to have success you need to have a little bit of not caring,” Itauma said of his time training with Fury for his two bouts with Usyk. “If you care too much then you might just miss it. From AJ, I'd probably say, you're a citizen of the world – don't tie yourself down to one entity.”

Despite once learning from Fury and Joshua, Itauma has quickly become a rival of the two Britons. Both men are in the twilight of their careers, and neither appears likely to face the young southpaw before hanging up their gloves.

“I don't feel like I need to build my career off a win,” Itauma said of the likelihood of never facing Fury or Joshua. “Like, I've headlined as a 20-year-old. I've headlined in Saudi Arabia as a 21-year-old. I'm headlining in Manchester. I'm not building my career off other people's backs, I'm actually doing it, I guess, my own way.

“I guess every fighter has had a passing-of-the-torch [moment]. Although I respect these fighters, I don't need to have their career. I don't need to be that person, I can be my own man … but I'm not too bothered like that. Tyson and AJ, they've got their own thing going on. And me, I've currently got Jermaine Franklin.

“So at the minute, I'm not really thinking about that.”

Itauma’s focus is firmly on this Saturday’s opponent. Durable and experienced, Franklin has yet to be stopped as a professional, and there is a hope he will finally drag the hard-hitting Itauma into deep waters.

“The reason why we want rounds is because the last time I went the distance was with Kevin Nicolas Espindola [in 2023],” Itauma said. “So that was my full fight in, and beating Dillian Whyte has kind of put me on a new trajectory. The first time that I'm going into the eighth round, ninth round, 10th round can't be against someone like Fabio Wardley, Daniel Dubois, Oleksandr Usyk, Agit Kabayel or whatever. I need to know what it's like to experience the latter part of fights, so that is why we've got Jermaine Franklin: He's tough, he's durable, and not only that, he comes to fight.

“So for me, this is a perfect fight. We were actually asking for the Jermaine Franklin fight for the Dillian Whyte fight. It might have been for like a year and a half that we've been asking for Jermaine Franklin. So now that we've got the fight, I'm happy. I'm pleased because now I can finally answer the questions that my team have been asking and what I've been asking of myself. I know I can do it in the gym. I've done it multiple times. But now it's about doing it under the bright lights.”

The question remains whether Itauma can take a shot. Franklin, 24-2 (15 KOs), isn’t considered one of the biggest punchers in the division, but he has enough pop to test Itauma’s chin.

“Obviously, when I was boxing [as an amateur], I was boxing with a head guard, big gloves and, until now, probably like Dillian Whyte – maybe Demsey McKean – they're the kind of only people that I guess you could say are big punchers that would be able to cause some damage,” said Itauma. “Obviously, they weren't able to land the shot. It's not my fault, so yeah, we'll see.”

The uncertainty is not something that weighs heavily on Itauma’s mind. If anything, it is part of the process – another question to be answered in time rather than something to obsess over.

“I actually never focus on the outcome of a fight, so when people are asking, ‘What do you think of the fight,’ or ‘What's your prediction?’ I genuinely don't know, because I don't even think about it. The only thing I think about is sticking to the game plan that my team has prepared and the game plan that I've been planning for 14 weeks.

“That's what's on my mind, the outcome or that it's irrelevant. It's irrelevant because boxing is all opinionated. Me and you might be watching the same fight, but we've got two different opinions. So getting a win for me, I don't really care because it's someone's opinion, whereas a knockout is a knockout.

“If I stick to the game plan and I've prepared diligently – I don't feel like there's any heavyweight that could withstand my own capability.”

If his performances match his composure, Itauma may not only shake off the comparisons to “Iron” Mike but also etch his own name into the history books.

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.