{"id":124504,"date":"2025-09-09T06:06:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T06:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/124504\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T06:06:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T06:06:13","slug":"leo-atang-looks-so-polished-that-moses-itauma-comparisons-are-inevitable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/124504\/","title":{"rendered":"Leo Atang Looks So Polished That Moses Itauma Comparisons Are Inevitable"},"content":{"rendered":"

Considering that Leo Atang <\/a>has spent the grand total of five minutes dissecting the first two opponents of his professional career, it is the 18-year-old heavyweight\u2019s poise and patience that has caught the eye.
In July, Atang made short work of Milen Paunov.<\/a> On Saturday night, he got rid of Cristian Uwaka inside the opening round.<\/p>\n

On paper, the results are unremarkable \u2014 some would even say entirely predictable \u2014 but it is the calm, calculating manner in which York\u2019s Atang (2-0, 2 KOs) has gone about his work that has stood out. <\/p>\n

Stand any professional heavyweight in the world in front of a heavy bag and the cracks and thuds will echo around a gym. <\/p>\n

The true test of their credentials comes when they have to worry about live fire coming back their way and they are deprived of the time to gauge the range, set their feet and tee off with impunity. <\/p>\n

Lots of young heavyweights rack up a series of quick stoppage wins against overmatched, unambitious opponents but quickly run out of ideas when the calibre of opposition improves. <\/p>\n

We are still some way from finding out whether Atang will be as effective as his opponents get tougher and smarter, but he has displayed the type of rare gifts that can take some professional fighters years to develop. <\/p>\n

Yes, Atang has fast hands and a busy jab but he also has a large catalogue of head and foot feints <\/a>and the patience to bide his time and wait for the right opportunity to present itself. <\/p>\n

\u201cMe and the team, we were obviously backstage working on being calm, finding the openings and stuff and not just going for it,\u201d he told DAZN immediately after taking apart Uwaka.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I found the spot, that’s when we went for it in the right time and at the right moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Atang\u2019s composure is even more remarkable considering he turned professional without ever having a senior amateur contest and has quickly been mentioned in the same breath as former WBC heavyweight title holder Frank Bruno and two-time unified champion Anthony Joshua<\/a>.
Atang hasn\u2019t fallen into the very obvious trap of trying too hard to impress <\/a>and the weight of expectation hasn\u2019t caused his shoulders to tighten. Atang looks loose, relaxed and as if he enjoying every moment of life as a professional boxer.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course I was nervous because it means so much to me. Boxing is my life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s at the front of my mind, it’s at the back of my mind, it’s everywhere in my mind so I’m always going to be focused on it and, especially with everyone coming out to support tonight, it means the world so I want to impress and make sure they get their money’s worth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Atang\u2019s early success will inevitably lead to comparisons with heavyweight prodigy Moses Itauma<\/a>, and some observers will quickly begin to demand that he is put on an accelerated path to the top.<\/p>\n

Atang isn\u2019t allowing himself to get carried away. He knows that he has a long path ahead. <\/p>\n

\u201cJust activity,\u201d he said when asked what is next.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ll be straight back in the gym on Monday, getting the work in, putting the work in and working on mistakes I made in there tonight. I’m nowhere near the finished article of where I want to be but each day, God willing, we’re trying to get a step closer.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Considering that Leo Atang has spent the grand total of five minutes dissecting the first two opponents of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124505,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,6842,6836,6841,6840,6834,6102,6837,6838,6839,6835,6588,6847,6846,6830,6828,6829,6844,6831,6827,6848,6843,101,6845,6826,6833,56,54,55,6832],"class_list":["post-124504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-boxing-community","tag-boxing-fights","tag-boxing-history","tag-boxing-interviews","tag-boxing-magazine","tag-boxing-news","tag-boxing-photos","tag-boxing-rankings","tag-boxing-schedule","tag-boxing-videos","tag-boxing-results","tag-disqualification","tag-draw","tag-fight","tag-fighter","tag-fighter-news","tag-knockout","tag-latest-boxing-matches","tag-ring","tag-ring-magazine","tag-split-decision","tag-sports","tag-technical-knockout","tag-the-ring","tag-top-fighters","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-upcoming-boxing-matches"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124504\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}