Moses Itauma
Personal information
Nationality British
Born Enriko Itauma
(2004-12-28) 28 December 2004 (age 21)
Kežmarok, Slovakia
Height 6 ft 4½ in (194 cm)
Weight Heavyweight
Boxing career
Reach 79 in (201 cm)
Stance Southpaw
Boxing record[1]
Total fights 14
Wins 14
Win by KO 12

Moses Itauma (born 28 December 2004) is a British[2][3][4][5] professional boxer. At regional level, he has held the Commonwealth heavyweight title since 2025.

Early life

Itauma was born in Slovakia in the town of Kežmarok to a Nigerian father and Slovak mother.[5] He is the younger brother of light-heavyweight boxer Karol Itauma. He and his family experienced racism in Slovakia stating, "Me and my brothers got racially abused. It wasn't a good place to be."[5] Finally, the family decided to move to England, firstly to leave the racist environment they were in and secondly to search for new opportunities which Slovakia did not provide.[5] He was the last person in the family to move to England which was in 2008 and eventually he settled in Chatham, Kent.

Growing up, his favourite fighter was Prince Naseem Hamed. Itauma has since stated that he tries to implement elements of Hamed's style into his own game, saying, "I used to watch a lot of Naseem Hamed. I must have watched the same video of him about 50 times, I remember it was a highlight reel which started off with him dancing. He was one of my favourite fighters. I've got a different style from him but I do try to implement some of the things he used to do."[5][6] Itauma got into boxing at the age of nine through his brother Karol (who was an amateur boxer at the time) who then invited him to the boxing gym one day.[6] However, after a few hard boxing sessions, he switched to playing football with his other brother Samuel.[6] Later on, he switched back to boxing at St Mary's ABC in Chatham, Kent, after finding football boring.[5][6]

Amateur career

Itauma had an unbeaten amateur career, turning professional with a record of 24 wins with 11 wins by knockout. He claimed gold medals in Schools, Juniors, Youth European and the Heavyweight Youth World Gold Medal.[7]

Professional career

Early career

Itauma made his debut on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev vs. Anthony Yarde on 28 January 2023, at the Wembley Arena. He beat Marcel Bode in his debut via knockout after just 23 seconds.[8]

Itauma had aspirations for breaking Mike Tyson's record for being the youngest heavyweight champion in history, but he later described how it was just two months into his professional career when he realised that goal was "impossible."[9][10]

Itauma won the vacant WBO Intercontinental heavyweight title with a second-round stoppage victory against Germany's Ilja Mezencev on the undercard of the Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk bill in Saudi Arabia on 18 May 2024.[11] He retained his title with another second-round stoppage win, this time over Polish boxer Mariusz Wach at The O2 Arena, London, on 27 July 2024.[12][13][14]

In his next bout, he stopped Demsey McKean in the first round on 21 December 2024, at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as part of the undercard for the heavyweight world title rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury.[15][16]

He was voted The Ring's 2024 Prospect Of The Year.[17]

Itauma knocked out Mike Balogun in the beginning of round two of their fight at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow on 24 May 2025.[18]

Rise up the ranks

Itauma vs. Whyte

On 16 August 2025, he defeated Dillian Whyte by first round stoppage and won the Commonwealth heavyweight title at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.[19][20]

Itauma vs. Franklin

Itauma faced Jermaine Franklin at Co-op Live in Manchester on 28 March 2026 and won by knockout in the fifth round; it was Franklin’s first loss by knockout.[21] Ahead of the bout, Itauma hoped a longer fight would showcase his stamina.[22] The fight was originally scheduled for January 2026 but was postponed after he was injured during his training camp.[23]

Following a dominant performance where Itauma put Franklin down in the 3rd round, Itauma won by knockout in the 5th round.[24]

Professional boxing record

14 fights 14 wins 0 losses
By knockout 12 0
By decision 2 0
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
14 Win 14–0 Jermaine Franklin KO 5 (10), 1:33 28 Mar 2026 Co-op Live, Manchester, England Retained WBA International and WBO Inter-Continental heavyweight titles
13 Win 13–0 Dillian Whyte TKO 1 (10), 1:59 16 Aug 2025 anb Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Retained WBA International and WBO Inter-Continental heavyweight titles;
Won vacant Commonwealth heavyweight title
12 Win 12–0 Mike Balogun TKO 2 (10), 0:46 24 May 2025 OVO Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland Retained WBA International and WBO Inter-Continental heavyweight titles
11 Win 11–0 Demsey McKean TKO 1 (10), 1:57 21 Dec 2024 Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Retained WBO Inter-Continental heavyweight title;
Won vacant WBA International and Commonwealth Silver heavyweight titles
10 Win 10–0 Mariusz Wach TKO 2 (10), 2:30 27 Jul 2024 The O2 Arena, London, England Retained WBO Inter-Continental heavyweight title
9 Win 9–0 Ilja Mezencev TKO 2 (10), 0:50 18 May 2024 Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Won vacant WBO Inter-Continental heavyweight title
8 Win 8–0 Dan Garber TKO 1 (8), 2:22 22 Mar 2024 York Hall, London, England
7 Win 7–0 Michal Boloz TKO 1 (6), 1:00 1 Dec 2023 York Hall, London, England
6 Win 6–0 István Bernáth TKO 1 (6), 1:53 28 Oct 2023 Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
5 Win 5–0 Amine Boucetta TKO 1 (6), 1:33 23 Sep 2023 Wembley Arena, London, England
4 Win 4–0 Kevin Nicolas Espindola PTS 6 29 Jul 2023 Telford International Centre, Telford, England
3 Win 3–0 Kostiantyn Dovbyshchenko PTS 6 15 Apr 2023 Copper Box Arena, London, England
2 Win 2–0 Ramon Alberto Ibarra KO 1 (4), 0:35 25 Mar 2023 Telford International Centre, Telford, England
1 Win 1–0 Marcel Bode KO 1 (4), 0:23 28 Jan 2023 Wembley Arena, London, England

Pay-per-view bouts

Date Fight Country Network Buys Source(s)
16 August 2025 Moses Itauma vs. Dillian Whyte United Kingdom DAZN PPV

References

  1. ^ "Boxing record for Moses Itauma". BoxRec.
  2. ^ "BoxRec: Moses Itauma". boxrec.com. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
  3. ^ "Moses Itauma believes he will become undisputed world heavyweight champion". The Independent. 15 August 2025. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
  4. ^ "Moses Itauma reveals what he hates the most before the biggest test of his career". www.dazn.com. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Taylor, Declan (14 April 2023). "Tick, Tock: Moses Itauma is a young heavyweight in a hurry". Boxing News. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d talkSPORT Boxing (23 July 2024). 19 Year Old Moses Itauma BELIEVES He Will Be The Future Of The Heavyweight Division! 🥊⭐. Retrieved 27 July 2024 – via YouTube.
  7. ^ "Moses Itauma". Queensbury Promotions. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
  8. ^ "Heavyweight Hope Moses Itauma Wins Pro Debut". boxing247.com. 27 March 2024.
  9. ^ "Rising heavyweight star Moses Itauma wants to break legend Mike Tyson's record". irishmirror.ie. 27 March 2024.
  10. ^ "Moses Itauma: Breaking Mike Tyson's record was 'impossible'". BBC Sport. 28 May 2025. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  11. ^ "Explosive Moses Itauma Stops Ilja Mezencev In Two". Boxing Scene. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  12. ^ "Heavyweight prospect Moses Itauma hammers Mariusz Wach in two". Boxing Scene. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  13. ^ "'Britain's Mike Tyson' Moses Itauma lives up to his moniker as he knocks out durable Mariusz Wach quicker than anyone has before". Talksport. 27 July 2024. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  14. ^ "Tyson Fury Declines The Possibility Of Fighting Moses Itauma, Calls It A 'Stupid Fight'". KO On SI. 7 October 2024. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
  15. ^ "Devastating Moses Itauma obliterates Demsey McKean in a round". Boxing Scene. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
  16. ^ "Heavyweight hope Itauma stops McKean in one round". BBC Sport. 21 December 2024. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
  17. ^ "The Ring's Prospect Of The Year For 2024: Moses Itauma". RingMagazine.com. 12 January 2025. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  18. ^ "Moses Itauma Makes Easy Work Of Mike Balogun, Scores Highlight Reel KO in 2". The Ring.
  19. ^ "'What next?' - Itauma blows away Whyte in one round". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 August 2025.
  20. ^ "Moses Itauma blasts away Dillian Whyte in round one". Boxing News Online. Retrieved 17 August 2025.
  21. ^ "Moses Itauma stops Jermaine Franklin for first time with vicious heavyweight victory in Manchester". Sky News. 28 March 2026. Retrieved 29 March 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  22. ^ Astbury, Matt (26 March 2026). "Moses Itauma explains why he picked Jermaine Franklin for his next fight". DAZN. Retrieved 29 March 2026. Jermaine Franklin, that's what he's known for. He's known for taking people the distance and giving them tough fights.
  23. ^ "Itauma injury means Franklin bout off until March". BBC Sport.
  24. ^ "Itauma vs Franklin: Moses Itauma wins step-up fight with crushing fifth round stoppage". BBC Sport. 28 March 2026. Retrieved 29 March 2026.