Moses Itauma has 146 days left to break Mike Tyson’s record as boxing’s youngest heavyweight champion ever. In 1986, at the age of 20 years and 145 days, Tyson stopped Trevor Berbick in the second round to win the WBC heavyweight title.
Itauma is just two days out from his 20th birthday. Unless something dramatic happens, such as the WBO title being relinquished (Itauma is ranked No. 6), Joseph Parker withdrawing from his championship clash with Daniel Dubois on short notice, or an even less likely scenario of unified heavyweight champ Oleksandr Usyk choosing Itauma as his next opponent, the young prospect likely won’t get the chance to break Tyson’s record in 2025, but he could still go on to be the best heavyweight of the next decade.
Itauma turned professional in January 2023 at 18 with a 24-0 amateur record and tremendous hype behind him. He started 2024 at 7-0 and stepped up to eight-rounders against late replacement Dan Garber. Garber was understandably reluctant to take the fight, already aware of Itauma’s potential.
“I think in the next 15 years, his name is going to be mentioned alongside Lennox Lewis,” Garber told SWS Boxing before facing Itauma. “This kid is special.”
Itauma needed just two minutes to dispatch Garber in London and only two rounds to take out Ilja Mezencev three months later in Riyadh. Next for Itauma was the durable Polish fighter Mariusz Wach. Thirteen months prior, Wach had extended British title challenger Frazer Clarke the 10-round distance, and he was a veteran name many boxing pundits thought could give Itauma some much-needed rounds.
But Wach was no match for Itauma’s speed, precision and footwork, and he too failed to make it out of the second stanza. That win earned the Slovakian-born British pugilist his No. 6 spot in the WBO rankings and two other world rankings — a WBA No. 10 position and a No. 14 placement with the IBF.
Next up? Demsey McKean, who marked a significant leap in opposition for Itauma. The Australian southpaw had tasted defeat only once before, at the hands of top-10 heavyweight Fillip Hrgovic. It was a tall order for a teenager, but Ituama is no ordinary prospect. Itauma finished McKean in the opening round on the Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury undercard with a performance that was simply stunning.
To produce the knockout, Itauma feinted low to trick McKean into thinking he was firing to the body and then launched a monster overhand left that the Aussie had zero chance of getting up from.
To execute a sequence like that in the first round as a teenager against an opponent who has competed at the world level against legitimate contenders is a clear sign of Itauma’s phenomenal potential.
Itauma is Uncrowned’s pick for the 2024 Prospect of the Year.
The runner-up is lightweight sensation Abdullah Mason, 20, who went 5-0 in 2024, making short work of his step-up opposition.
In Mason’s final bout of the year, he showed something different: The ability to come back from adversity. Mason got off the floor twice in the opener to stop Yohan Vasquez in the second round.
No one expected Mason to have any trouble with Vazquez, and therefore him being knocked down twice attracted some negativity. It is important to remember, though, that most fighters are going to face tough moments on their path to a world title, and overcoming them with the calmness that Mason did is a sign of fortitude and resilience.
