Few British amateur prospects have turned professional accompanied by the amount of hype that as been attached to 18 year old Moses Itauma.
Leaving the unpaid ranks behind with a perfect record of 22-0, made his debut in January of this year and has quickly risen to 3-0 in the pro game.
Alongside his unblemished amateur record, part of the reason for the excitement surrounding Itauma is tales of him sparring the likes of Daniel Dubois, Joe Joyce and Anthony Joshua and getting the better of them – whilst still doing his GCSEs.
On a recent appearance on the George Groves Boxing Club podcast, Itauma explained it was actually Queensberry stablemate Daniel Dubois who actually gave him the toughest time when the pair locked horns in the gym.
“The one I struggled with the most, and it’s going to be really surprising, is Dubois. Because he doesn’t bring his jab to chin, he keeps it half way out and he doesn’t need to fully extend the shot to hit me.
I wouldn’t say I struggled with Dubois, but he’s more on his toes than Joyce and Joshua, so it’s harder for me because I’m a mover.
I’m not saying I had an easy time with them, but it was not as hard as Dubois because he isn’t as much of a plodder as the other guys.”
Dubois’ success against a fleet of foot, southpaw heavyweight should give him confidence as he heads into a world title fight against unified champion Oleksandr Usyk next month.
Wroclaw Stadium in Poland will play host to Usyk vs Dubois on August 26th, where many feel ‘DDD’ is truly up against it.