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Chatham heavyweight to fight on Usyk v Fury bill

Getty Images Moses Itauma celebrates after winning a fight. He raises his hands in the air and flexes his muscles. He is wearing a black, sleeveless top and black boxing gloves. Getty Images
Heavyweight Moses Itauma is fighting third on the bill of the Usyk v Fury fight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

A 19-year-old heavyweight boxer from Kent is preparing to fight on the undercard of Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk's rematch.

Moses Itauma, of Chatham, has won all ten of his professional bouts and stopped his last six opponents within two rounds.

Ahead of the fight in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, Mr Itauma said: "I need to be in a fight where people think I'm not going to win or it's too early, so I can come and prove them wrong.

"My whole career has been people saying, 'he's going to go in there, he's going to knock them out', and what excitement do I get out of that?"

Moses Itauma at a gym in Essex where he is training for his next fight. He is wearing a black top and shorts, and black boxing gloves. He is sat on the bottom of four ropes inside a boxing ring.
The teenager, who's record is 22 wins and one loss, will fight Australian Demsey McKean on 21 December

Dennis McCann, who grew up in Maidstone, had also been due to fight on the same bill, but the fight was pulled after an adverse finding in his pre-fight test by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association.

But Mr Itauma, originally from Slovakia, said Kent was "booming" with boxers fighting at the top level, with the likes of Sam Noakes, from Maidstone, who holds the British, Commonwealth and European lightweight titles.

'It's crazy'

Mr Itauma also highlighted Archie Sharp, the super-featherweight ranked 6th in the world by the WBO, who lives "a few doors down" from him, and former world champion Johnny Armour, who runs a boxing gym in Chatham.

"It's crazy, I don't know what it is in the Kent water," Mr Itauma said.

The 19-year-old will fight Australian Demsey McKean on 21 December.

Mr Itauma added: "The thing is, even after all the fights Demsey McKeen has had, I feel like I am still the A-side."

Usyk and Fury will step into the ring together again on 21 December after the rival heavyweights collided six months ago in Riyadh, with Usyk beating Fury via split decision.

Live text commentary will begin at 20:00 GMT on fight night on the BBC Sport website and app.

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