ANTHONY JOSHUA remains the king of British boxing by mentoring young princes like Moses Itauma who want to take his crown.
Three years ago – when 34-year-old AJ was preparing for his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk – the 6ft 3in freakishly-talented southpaw was desperate for sparring rounds and looked like a tailor-made suitor.
Team AJ bizarrely overlooked the Chatham wonderkid, despite his identical frame and similar style to the Ukrainian genius.
The snub left the Kent teenager Itauma feeling shocked and confused.
But now the 19-year-old prodigy is part of the same Ben Davison gym as the London 2012 legend.
And they have been bumping biceps and brains in the compact Harlow sweatbox.
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Instead of overlooking or undermining the latest generation of British giants looking to knock him off the throne, Joshua is doing everything he can to raise Itauma up to his level.
The 10-0 prospect told SunSport: “I was shocked when they never asked me back for the second Usyk camp because I would have loved to have been part of that.
“I was confused by it but it’s not a question you want to ask a team-mate now – ‘Excuse me mate, why didn’t you invite me for the Usyk camp?’
“I have the privilege to train in the same gym as him now and I was on a walk the other day and I was thinking what I would call him now?
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“And it’s a mentor. Because I go to him with a lot of questions about boxing, in the ring and things out of it, I ask him a lot and he always helps me.
“I am just happy to be in this position.”
Eight years ago, when AJ’s Saturday night opponent Daniel Dubois burst onto the pro scene without much of a senior amateur record, he allegedly grabbed the attention of hall-of-fame promoter Frank Warren by flooring Joshua in Team GB sparring.
And four years ago, when schoolboy Itauma was popping up in gyms all over the country – STILL IN HIS UNIFORM – he was earning a fearsome reputation as a babyface killer even the biggest and best didn’t want to work with.
The comparison between Dynamite Dan and ice-cool Itauma seems clear, but he bats it off like a rival’s jab.
He explained: “When everyone first turns professional, we all need a story to sell and that’s what they sold with Dubois, dropping AJ, or whatever happened,
“My story is different. I have a big amateur pedigree and my sparring story is that from a young age I was sparring everyone.
“But I have never come out and said I have knocked out anyone, because sparring stories are just sparring stories, everyone has one.
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“I believe Frank Warren has said he signed me based off of footage he saw of a sparring session – but I don’t know who I was sparring with.
“I never found out who it was but I could understand the story because I do well in those spars and that’s where I get my confidence from.
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“If I was holding my own against guys with world titles and world title shots, at 15, now I am 19 and I can wonder what I might be like in another four year’s time.”
Watch Riyadh Season Card: Joshua v Dubois, live on TNT Sports Box Office from 4pm on Saturday 21 September. Find out more at tntsports.co.uk/boxoffice.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
