Moses Itauma l (born 28 December 2004) is a Slovakian-Nigerian

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

. He is the younger brother of light-heavyweight fighter Karol Itauma.

Early life

Itauma was born in Slovakia in the town of

Kežmarok Kežmarok ( or ; , , , ) is a town in the Spiš region of eastern Slovakia (population 16,000), on the Poprad River. Prior to World War I, it was in Szepes county in the Kingdom of Hungary. History Settlement at Kežmarok dates back to the Up ...

to a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

father and Slovakian mother. He and his family experienced racism in Slovakia stating “Me and my brothers got racially abused. It wasn't a good place to be." 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. He was the last person in the family to move to England which was in 2008 and eventually he settled in

Chatham, Kent Chatham ( ) is a town within the Medway unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Kent, England. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Gillingham, Rochester, Strood and Rainham. In 2020 it had a population of 80,596. Th ...

. Growing up, his favourite fighter was Prince Naseem Hamed and Itauma has stated that he tries to implement elements of Hamed's style into his own game. He stated "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." 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. However, after a few hard boxing sessions, he switched to playing football with his other brother Samuel. Later on, he switched back to boxing at St Mary’s ABC in Chatham, Kent after finding football boring.

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.

Professional career

Itauma made his debut on the undercard of

Artur Beterbiev Artur Asilbekovich Beterbiev (; ; born 21 January 1985) is a Russian and Canadian professional boxer. He held the undisputed light-heavyweight championship between 2024 and February 2025. He also held the International Boxing Organization (IB ...

vs. Anthony Yarde on 28 January 2023, at the

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena () (originally the Empire Pool, currently known as OVO Energy, OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, Greater London, England. The 12,500-seat facility is Greater Lond ...

. He easily dispatched his opponent after just 23 seconds. Itauma has aspirations for breaking the 38 year old

Mike Tyson Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1985 and 2024. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "the Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson i ...

record for being the youngest heavyweight champion. Itauma won the vacant

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxin ...

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. He retained his title with another second-round stoppage win, this time over Polish boxer

Mariusz Wach Mariusz Wach (; born 14 December 1979) is a Polish professional boxer. He challenged once for the unified WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles against Wladimir Klitschko in 2012. Early life Wach was born 14 December 1979 in Krak ...

The O2 Arena The O2 Arena, commonly known as The O2, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of The O2 entertainment district on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London, England. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the third-highest seat ...

, London, on 27 July 2024. In his next bout, he stopped Demsey McKean in the first round on 21 December 2024, at

Kingdom Arena Kingdom Arena (), formerly known as Boulevard Hall () during construction, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Hittin neighborhood of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The stadium seats roughly 27,000 spectators in its football configuration. History ...

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

as part of the undercard for the heavyweight world title rematch between

Oleksandr Usyk Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Usyk (, ; born 17 January 1987) is a Ukrainian professional boxer. He has held the unified champion (boxing), unified heavyweight championship since 2021, and the ''The Ring (magazine), Ring'' magazine title since 2022 ...

and

Tyson Fury Tyson Luke Fury (born 12 August 1988) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2008 to 2024. He held multiple world heavyweight championships, including unified titles from 2015 to 2016, the '' Ring'' magazine title twice bet ...

. He was voted The Ring's 2024 Prospect Of The Year. Itauma knocked out Mike Balogun in the beginning of round two of their fight at the

SSE Hydro The OVO Hydro is a multi-purpose indoor arena located within the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow, Scotland. The arena was initially named The Scottish Hydro Arena after its main sponsor Scottish Hydro Electric. During construction, Scottish ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland, on 24 May 2025.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Itauma, Karol 2004 births Living people Sportspeople from Kežmarok British male boxers Slovak male boxers Slovak people of Nigerian descent English people of Nigerian descent Sportspeople of Nigerian descent English people of Slovak descent Slovak emigrants to the United Kingdom Heavyweight boxers 21st-century British sportsmen