Boxing loves a nice cliche. Every single Mexican fighter was supposedly one of 17 brothers and had been a shoeshine boy since he was six.<\/p>\n
Then there’s the female fighter who had to pretend to be a boy because she wasn’t allowed to fight as a girl – Caroline Dubois seems to have done that, and Katie Taylor most definitely did.<\/p>\n
With Itauma, the stories are about the established pros he’d sparred as a teenager. <\/p>\n
I like the idea that he was still a schoolboy wearing his shorts and his sandals, although I think that’s ripping the proverbial out of it.<\/p>\n
But testimony from different gyms and fighters suggests that yes, he did show up after school to spar with guys while he was still wearing his uniform.<\/p>\n
I personally first became aware of Itauma when he was about 16. <\/p>\n
He was on his way to winning junior and youth titles as an unbeaten amateur, still wearing a headguard. There were rumours circulating about this kid.<\/p>\n
The way Itauma has been pushed, promoted and sold as a professional is not like any other heavyweight. And it has brought him a lot of attention.<\/p>\n
There was all that talk of him beating Mike Tyson’s record of becoming the youngest ever heavyweight world champion, which has since passed.<\/p>\n
I don’t think the Mike Tyson comparisons hurt Itauma in any way, because they weren’t being made by him. <\/p>\n
He wasn’t walking around with a T-shirt saying “I’m going to beat Mike Tyson’s record”.<\/p>\n