I cancelled my own 18th birthday party so I can beat Mike Tyson’s record and become youngest ever heavyweight champ
MOSES ITAUMA – remember the name.
The wonder boy cancelled his own 18th birthday on Thursday to get a head start on topping the Baddest Man on the Planet and becoming history’s youngest heavyweight world champion.
Moses Itauma believes he can fight for the world title by 2025Jamie McPhilimey
GettyAll-time great Mike Tyson was the undisputed world heavyweight champ from 1987 to 1990[/caption]
The prodigious heavyweight – a three-time European and now World youth champion – chose instead to train alongside light-heavyweight brother Karol, 22.
So SunSport and Francis Warren of Champion Sports Management, who guide the pair, visited with balloons and bunting.
The giant southpaw groaned as he entered trainer Dan Woledge’s Ropes and Glory Chatham gym to the fanfare, where he wants to be far more focused on breaking Mike Tyson’s record of 20 years, four months and 22 days.
But he warmed up when that milestone was mentioned, he told us: “Me and my brother have talked about me breaking that record and just looking at the dates and the maths, it is very doable.
“Karol told me ‘if anyone can do it then you can’ and I believe I can do it.
“The current world champions now are in their thirties and the ones that are coming up, supposedly to replace them, I reckon I can do all of them.”
Tyson Fury, 34, holds the WBC crown and is expected to share an undisputed decider with WBA, IBF and WBO king Oleksandr Usyk, who turns 36 this month (JAN 17) in the Spring.
Mandatory challengers, former champions and established contenders like Joe Joyce, Daniel Dubois, Filip Hrgovic, Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder and Andy Ruiz will then fight for the titles.
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So Itauma, raised in Kent by his Solavkian mum and Nigerian dad, knows exactly the time frame he has to shatter one of Tyson’s most incredible feats.
Already showing plenty of boxing maturity, he said: “It’s not easy to get a world title shot, I can only get in there and fight, so I will not get angry at the things I cannot control.
“20th May, 2025 is the day to do it by and it sounds miles away but it will come around quickly.
“Physically I am still a boy compared to the lot ahead of me so I am working on growing into being a man. I think I will be alright.”
A cruel childhood and the genius of trainer Cus D’Amato turned Mike Tyson from bullied Brooklyn pigeon fancier to undisputed icon and multi-millionaire before he could ever understand it.
Moses is carved out of a different sized stone but has also sacrificed his childhood to become a boxing behemoth.
“I never really celebrated a birthday since I was about 15,” he said with a baritone voice Barry White would have been proud of.
“I was a very big kid, by 14 I was probably about 6ft 4in tall and 17st. I have always felt like an adult since then.
“I haven’t grown too much physically but now I feel like I am maturing, mentality, into being a man.”
Despite his freakish frame, Moses hated bullying and was often the last line of defence at school.
“I was the justice system,” he said. “There were times when I had to bully the bullies because I hated seeing that stuff. I never liked seeing anyone being picked on.”
Big brother Karol led his sibling into their childhood St Mary’s ABC gym when he was 14 and Moses was nine.
If anyone is going to beat Mike Tyson’s record it is my brother. I know how he ticks and at times it is crazy to be a part of it.
kAROL iTAUMA
At 9-0 in the pro ranks at a veteran of heavyweight undercards featuring the likes of Dubois and Joyce, he might be concerned about his not-so-little bro.
“I haven’t had to protect him since he was about 13,” he laughed.
“There’s no trepidation from me, even as his big brother.
“If anyone is going to beat Mike Tyson’s record it is going to be my brother.
“I know how he ticks inside and at times it is crazy to be a part of it and to witness it unfold.
“I really think he is going to do it, I genuinely think he is the only person standing in the way of himself.
“I am just excited to see it all unfold, people will take notice of the debut and then they will start to recognise this talent that we have been watching grow into the man he has become.”
