Earlier today, speaking from a car via Zoom, Moses Itauma hosted a Q and A with the UK media. This is what Itauma, who fights Filip Hrgovic on August 29 for the vacant IBF heavywieght title, live on DAZN, had to say.
Moses, I’ll fire straight in. So I just wanted to check the overriding feeling when you heard that this would be for the world title. Obviously, you’re already preparing for the biggest fight of your career, biggest test of your career, and now the world title is attached to it. Was it excitement? Was it joy? Was it, oh, OK, like, how did you feel when you first heard that news confirmed?
To be honest, for me, like, I didn’t really have no reaction. I was like, if I’m fighting Hrgovic and I’ve got the opportunity for it to be a world title, I said, ‘Yeah, chuck the world title on the line.’ I didn’t really have no feeling. I was taking Hrgovic seriously, and now that the fight’s for a world title, I’m still taking him seriously.
Good point.
And Frank Warren, yesterday, when we spoke to him, he kind of turned it round on us and said, who do we all think is the number one hottest property in boxing? And he said, look, it’s obviously Moses. He’s the number one, if you were going to make that argument. Now, as boxers in history would agree and would say, that’s exactly what I am.
Would you, is that how you consider yourself? Would you agree with Frank? Is that, would you make that statement yourself?
What, that I’m a hot property?
That you’re the number one hottest property in world boxing?
Oh, man. I appreciate the compliment from Frank Warren.
Yeah, but do you agree?
Do I agree?
You’re allowed to say yes. Many people would. Many, many, many people would agree.
You know what it is? I just think I’ve developed into the person, the character and the fighter I want to be, as I feel like a lot of people that are up there have. And I feel like it’s hard to ignore, like, Jaron Ennis, Shakur Stevenson. Like, they’re all still kind of young.
Like, so I wouldn’t be able to say that I outshine them, if that makes sense.
Moses, if you’re the top young heavyweight at the moment, which I think and others think you probably are, you’re coming into this little gap left by Usyk and one of you is going to come through as the contender to become the next undisputed champion, we think. If you’re the top contender, who do you think is your biggest rival in that group of young fighters?
It’ll have to be Agit Kabayel, innit? He’s kind of, he’s beat everybody that’s there. He’s pretty much beat everybody that’s rising right now. So I’d probably say he will probably be the biggest rival.
And Hrgovic, not the young buck, but what’s your assessment of him? Only one defeat. Your thoughts on him? How much do you rate him?
Of course, he’s a very good fighter. He’s only had one defeat and he only lost because of a cut, you know what I mean? So yeah, he’s solid.
I’m in for a long night, but I’ll be all right.
Oh, I think you’ll be all right. Thank you and good luck, young man.
Hi Moses, thank you so much for your time. If you do beat Hrgovic, you’ll become the second youngest world heavyweight champion ever. Mike Tyson was younger.
Would you have ever seen Tyson’s fight against Trevor Berbick when he became the youngest world heavyweight champion with one of the most devastating finishes that has been seen in heavyweight boxing?
Yeah, I did watch, of course. But Tyson’s had his career. I’m still making my career, you know what I mean? Of course, I tried to set out a goal to become the youngest heavyweight world champion.
I didn’t achieve it, but I landed a Dillian Whyte fight, you know? So it’s like step by step. What do they say? You shoot for the stars, you land at the moon or something along the lines of that.
Tyson said after that fight a lot of things, but mainly that he was, these punches were coming with bad intentions.
Do you want to make a similar statement and have that kind of force that will open up your win to a wider audience than just the boxing hardcore?
To be honest, I just had an interview with the BBC and they said, they asked me, what’s the one thing that people don’t know about Moses Itauma? And I said, I don’t actually want to be under the bright lights, but with the way I’m going, it looks like I ain’t got no choice. So, I don’t know.
I know you don’t like the media, but is it getting slightly easier?
I think I’m learning how to deal with the media. I think I just, I think when I first started professionally, the problem is just like, you’re always talking about what you’re going to do and it’s like you haven’t yet proven it.
Moses, you mentioned Filip Hrgovic and he’s capable of giving you a long night in there. I think we all saw that moment in your last fight where you kind of said to Ben [Davison], ‘Oh, I might have come out a little bit too fast here.’ I think you might have been feeling the pace a little bit.
Do you feel like that’s kind of giving you the confidence for this one to know that you can overcome those difficult moments in fights?
No, not really. I wasn’t feeling the pace that Jermaine Franklin was setting. I’ve set a pace too high for Jermaine Franklin.
It wasn’t something that Jermaine Franklin was setting about me. I was saying earlier today, I feel like I took the necessary steps to get me to this position. I haven’t gone from Mariusz Wach straight to Filip Hrgovic.
I think I might have found out or learned a couple of things where I might have not been ready for. Whereas I feel like as of right now, I think I’m in a good space.
You mentioned, obviously, sort of being more familiar with media commitments now. But I feel like with this camp, it seems like you’ve been doing a lot of media. Has that presented more of a challenge, maybe in terms of your training, that you’ve not encountered before?
Yeah, to be honest, I’ve said no to a lot of things.
So if you’re saying I’m doing a lot, I’m sure I can say no to a few more.
Just finally from me, I’ve seen you’ve been sparring that German heavyweight, the Olympic bronze medallist. I was just wondering, could you see him sort of being an opponent down the line for you? And how have those rounds gone?
I don’t think I see him as an opponent at the minute.
I guess not because he’s so early in his career. And obviously, I’m about to fight for a world title. But I do wish him all the best.
He’s very sharp, very strong. I’ve been sparring him for years now. I remember when I was 17, I used to drive to where he lives in Cologne. I used to drive to him to spar him at his home gym. And I used to spend just a weekend sparring him and all of his clubmates, if you get what I mean. So yeah, he’s a good friend of mine.
I wish him all the best.
Awesome, thanks. Thanks, Moses.
Hi, Moses. Thank you for your time. I was just reading that the first book that probably got you into reading was Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter by 50 Cent.
Why that book?
It was the first book I completed. But there were like four or five books where I’ve picked up and I’ve read. And like, I read that first 20 pages. I’m like, I can’t do this reading stuff. And I just put the book down.
But it was just more... I just found that I didn’t find books that I clicked with. And that 50 Cent book, Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter, was the first one I clicked with. Well, what got me into that book? I don’t know.
I think I remember coming across it on YouTube and I saw the audiobook and I just started playing the audiobook. And then I just ended up buying the book and started reading it.
If there was one thing you took from it, what was it?
The one thing that I can take from the 50 Cent book would probably be... There’s one chapter that says, ‘evolve or die’. And it’s basically talking about you have to evolve with the times. Or it might be you never get too close to a drowning person. You try to help them from a distance. Because if you get too close to a drowning person, then he’ll pull you down with you. You try to help from a distance, but if they get too close and they start hanging on to you, otherwise, you’ll get pulled under yourself. Fair enough.
And do you think you have to be a hustler in boxing?
Oh yeah, 100%. 100%.
How have you hustled in boxing?
I don’t know how to answer that question.
Fair enough. Thank you for your time.
All right, thank you.
Thanks for doing this. It’s always good to chat.
Hey, speaking to Frank yesterday, he was obviously talking about you being hot property and that kind of stuff. What is it about you that’s captured the imagination of the fans?
I don’t know. I don’t know because, like, I just, I try to be authentic when I’m on camera.
And then obviously in my boxing, I guess it seems like I’m putting on entertaining fights. So I feel like that’s got a part to play in it. I wouldn’t really know.
I guess I’m not braggadocious. I’m not swaggerdocious. I don’t do anything extraordinary outside the ring.
I don’t know. In my mind, I feel like it might be just because I come across as myself. I don’t try to be anyone else.
And obviously the highlight reel helps, right? The highlight reel knockouts. And in that way, that’s somehow similar to how they did build Mike Tyson back in the day, right?
They just put these highlight reels together of him just icing people.
But I think obviously Mike Tyson was obviously well known for the stuff that he used to say outside the ring as well, so.
Yeah, that’s true. And obviously on the 29th, you’re gonna walk out in front of about 20,000 people.
There is talk, providing you come through this, of stadium fights next year. Like the feeling you get walking in front of 20,000 fans and then maybe 70,000, 80,000 fans. Is that something that you really enjoy?
I haven’t really thought about that because if I don’t get past Hrgovic, there ain’t gonna be no stadium fights or nothing.
But say for the Hrgovic fight, when you do walk out from behind the curtain there and you’ve got all those fans there, do you enjoy that? Is that when the adrenaline kicks in?
Do you know what? I remember the Jermaine Franklin fight.
Yeah, I remember. When everybody was going, ‘Oh, Moses Itauma…’ I just wanna sit there and just listen to it and just appreciate it.
But it’s hard because it’s like, I’m in the ring fighting, you get what I mean? So it’s like, you try to appreciate, you try to take it in, but at the same time, you don’t wanna be starstruck that obviously you get caught out.
Yeah, top man. All right, thanks, Moses.
Declan and Tris have already said about Frank calling you one of the hottest properties in boxing at the moment.
Teddy Atlas went a little bit further when he compared you to Mike Tyson. He said you’d had more attributes than what Mike had at the same age. Really? How do comparisons like that make you feel? Do you just take it all on board or?
Teddy Atlas said that, yeah?
Yeah, he said at a similar age, he said Tyson was just more one-paced, just destructive. He said you use a lot more. But how do those comparisons make you feel?
To be honest, I’m pretty sure Teddy Atlas and Mike, I feel, Teddy Atlas put a gun to Mike Tyson’s head before, no? I think he just doesn’t like Mike Tyson.
