At just 19 years old, Itauma was named Prospect of The Year by pretty much every boxing outlet. After his stunning displays in 2024 the young heavyweight has been touted to lift world honours in the not so distant future and few would bet against him doing so.

Itauma has taken to the paid ranks like a fish to water since turning professional at 18 in 2023. His talents, however, have been apparent to those who followed him during his time as an amateur. Itauma was bowling over his age group with relative ease in international tournaments for England, so much so at just 16 he was being called up for sparring by some of the finest in sport.

Itauma was drafted in to aid then-WBO cruiserweight champion Lawrence Okolie in his preparations for an upcoming bout at Shane McGuigan’s gym. One man who witnessed Itauma in action against Okolie was Anthony Fowler. 

Fowler and Okolie were both stablemates at the time at the McGuigan Gym, and Fowler was surprised at what he saw when he came in for training one day.

“I walk in the gym and there's a kid there in a fucking school uniform, I thought he was half-lost,” Fowler told BoxingScene. “So I get up and say, ‘What are you here for?’ He went, ‘Sparring.’ I went, ‘Who are you sparring with?’ And he went, ‘Lawrence.’ I said, ‘How old are you?’ He went, ‘16.’ I thought, ‘Fucking hell, God bless you, mate.’ Lawrence can punch hard, he's a big, strong fella, he's massive.

“Lawrence was sparring three lads,” he continued. “So Lawrence sparred the first two lads and then Moses jumped in fresh, and Lawrence had done six rounds already, so he was a bit tired. This kid just went forward the whole spar, throwing bombs. I think he half-winded Lawrence with the left hand to the body.

“He was relentless for three rounds on him, throwing non-stop punches. No one could believe it in the gym. Everyone said, ‘What the fuck?’ Because obviously Lawrence was not in control. He was a world champion, he's normally in control of his sparring partners. So when this lad was like, this young boy, who was really on it, I was like, wow.”

After the spar Fowler approached the young heavyweight to learn more about what he had just witnessed.

“I said, ‘What's your record, mate? And he said something like 40 fights. I said, ‘How many have you won?’ He went, ‘All of them.’ I thought, ‘Fucking hell, this kid's serious.’ He's a fucking serious, serious talent. So I said to him, ‘Mate I'm gonna put money in you to become world champion,’ and he was just laughing. I said to him, ‘I bet no one bullies you in school, do they?’ 

Fowler revealed that Itauma had impressed not only the fighters watching the spar in the gym but Shane McGuigan himself. The young heavyweight was invited down for further spars with Okolie but the then champion treated Itauma differently.

“Lawrence was a bit more alert, I think he knew what to expect,” Fowler said. “So Lawrence was putting him in first. When he got in the first time, Lawrence was tired. This time Lawrence was sparring him at the start when he was fresh, so Lawrence was handling him a lot better, but it was very competitive sparring.

“Bear in mind, the lad's come from school. Lawrence is a world champion cruiserweight, so he's a once in a fucking generation fighter that kid. If he takes his time and just learns his craft, I think he'd be world champion, 100 per cent.”

Fowler was once captain of Great Britain’s boxing team at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. Fowler saw some of the best young talents come and go on the GB squad and puts Itauma right up there with the best he has seen.

“The last time I seen someone like him was Daniel Dubois,” he said. “I was on the GB squad years ago and Dubois walked in at like 18 years of age. He sparred Warren Baster and gave Warren hell. I thought, ‘Wow, this kid's gonna be something special.’ 

“Then the next one I've seen has been Moses. He's come through and I think he's even better than Daniel at the same age. I think Moses is even better. Moses used to spar Daniel Dubois when Shane [McGuigan] trained him - he used to give Dubois a real hard time as well. So he's definitely got massive, massive potential.”

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