LONDON, England – Moses Itauma has revealed that Ben Davison reignited his passion for boxing after he had fallen out of love with the sport after just eight professional fights.
The 20-year-old has been hailed as the future of the heavyweight division after his faultless start to life as a pro, with 12 fights, 12 wins and 10 KOs since his debut in January 2023.
Itauma’s next test comes in the form of Dillian Whyte, who he will face in the headline fight of the Esports World Cup event on August 16 in Riyadh live on DAZN pay-per-view.
But even though he is still in the early years of what is expected to be a long and successful career, Itauma has now admitted he had already begun to hate boxing before teaming up with Essex-based Davison at his Harlow gym in the spring of 2024.
“When I first joined the gym, Ben kept telling me that deep down I loved boxing,” Itauma told DAZN.
“But at that point in time I really did feel like I hated boxing. But he kind of lit the fire back up.
“He showed me there is more to boxing than just throwing one-twos. There is a whole chess game to this boxing.”
Since joining Davison, the right-handed southpaw has won four fights, with three ending in the second round and one, against Demsey McKean, finishing after just 117 seconds.
The Australian was 22-1, 14 KOs at the time, with his only defeat coming late against Filip Hrgovic, but Itauma disposed of him with ease in what was considered the toughest test of his career at the time.
Now it is Whyte who is expected to come in and provide the Slovakia-born youngster with a challenge and Itauma is refusing to look past the 37-year-old.
“It’s step-by-step and fight-by-fight,” Itauma added. “If you’re going to ask me what my plan is in this division it’s just to knock Dillian Whyte out I guess.
“He’s like another threat. Obviously, since I’ve started my career all of them have posed a threat to me so with Dillian, it’s just about trying to execute the game plan as usual.”