Moses Itauma promoter highlights Anthony Joshua contrast as first world title looms
Frank Warren has hinted that Moses Itauma’s first world-title win will be a bigger achievement than Anthony Joshua’s, if Itauma beats Filip Hrgovic this month.
On 29 August, Itauma and Hrgovic will clash in a heavyweight main event at London’s O2 Arena, and this week brought the news that the IBF title has been added to the fight.
Victory for Itauma would see the unbeaten Briton, 21, become the youngest world heavyweight champion since Mike Tyson. Yet he faces a stern test against Croatia’s Hrgovic, 34, who has lost just once as a professional.
Itauma vs Hrgovic will take place 10 years after Joshua won his first world heavyweight title – the same IBF belt, in the same arena, curiously.
And in a call with The Independent and other outlets on Thursday, Itauma’s promoter Warren said: “I hope it will be [the start of a similar journey to Joshua’s], although I do think that Hrgovic is a much better fighter than Charles Martin.”
The Queensberry Promotions boss was referring to Joshua’s opponent on that night in 2016, when “AJ” stopped the American in two rounds.
“Although [Martin] had the belt, he got the belt by default when Tyson [Fury] vacated – when he had his problems,” Warren added.
“But yeah, it’s part of [Itauma’s] journey. This is the journey. It’s got to be – what is it? – four or five years in front of where AJ was at this particular time in his career, when fighting for a title.”
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Indeed, Joshua was 26 when he beat Martin. AJ went on to become a two-time unified champion, and he is currently contracted to box compatriot Fury in a long-awaited super-fight.
That contest, despite being one of the biggest in British history, is currently on track to take place in the US.
“I can’t comment on that at the moment, because it’s not for me to do it,” Warren said on Thursday. “We have our arrangement and promotional arrangement with Tyson, but it’s not for me to announce what’s gonna happen with that fight yet.”
However, Warren, 74, did insist that it will take place in November.
