MOSES ITAUMA wants Tyson Fury to secure the Oleksandr Usyk undisputed decider so he can finally tangle with the giant WBC Gypsy King.
The 18-year-old Kent ace is a 6ft 3in heavyweight southpaw just like Ukraine’s WBA, IBF and WBO world champion.
And Anthony Joshua missed a trick by not having the super-skilled teen as his main sparring partner for both his losses to the 36-year-old leftie.
But Itauma – who used to travel to Joe Joyce’s gym after school and swap his uniform and classes for gloves and hard rounds – hopes his Frank Warren stablemate will draft him straight in for practice rounds.
Once Fury comes through his October 28 showbiz-circus bout with Francis Ngannou, the four-belt decider with Usyk should be signed and sealed for Saudi Arabia.
And fearless Itauma – who has done hundreds of practice rounds with monster punchers like Daniel Dubois and Lawrence Okolie – hopes he gets the invite up to Morecambe after he deals with his fifth pro opponent at Wembley arena on Saturday.
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“I know everyone wants to see the Fury and Usyk fight for all of the belts but I only really want it so I hopefully get the chance to spar Tyson,” the eager student explained.
“I’m no help with the Ngannou fight but I do think I am ideal for Usyk so hopefully I get to go up there soon and learn from him.
“Sparring stories always go around, I can’t complain because a lot of my early praise has come from sparring partners like Okolie, Joyce and Dubois bigging me up.
“Sparring is not fighting but it still shows skills and is the best way to learn so I want to mix with everyone and Fury is really the only big one I haven’t sparred.”
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With so much hype and expectation around Itauma, some fickle casual fight fans have been critical of his last two wins going the distance.
It’s an identical story to super-lightweight ace Adam Azim who at just 21 is about to fight for the European title in just his 10th pro fight.
Both prodigious talents are learning on the job and are taking on extremely tough men to get them ready for world title runs eventually.
“The first opponent who took the distance was a Ukrainian and the guy who Adam Azim just outpointed was Ukrainian too,” Itauma , who will take on Belgium’s Amine “The Beast” Boucetta on Saturday barring any mishaps, rightly pointed out.
“I take my hat off to anyone who is fighting a Ukrainian right now because, for what they are going through, they have so much to fight for.
“The Ukrainian boxers right now are fighting for their lives and their homes.
“People will always talk when you don’t win in spectacular fashion, people think I don’t get it but I do.
“None of us will ever be perfect, us fighters all speak to each other about it and we all get it.
“You learn so much more by going the distance, blasting people out in one round looks good but it doesn’t”.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
