As Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury enter the twilight of their respective careers, Moses Itauma looks set to take the proverbial torch for British boxing.
The precocious 20-year-old talent has barely put a foot wrong during a perfect 12-0 start to life in the paid ranks and is aiming to take one step closer to achieving his dream of becoming a world champion this weekend when he squares off against Dillian Whyte.
The crossroads bout represents a potential changing of the guard from one of the most prominent boxers of the current generation to the man most feel will reign supreme over the next crop of fighters.
And while victory could lead to bouts with other divisional mainstays such as Joseph Parker and Oleksandr Usyk, there won’t be a big domestic dust-up with Anthony Joshua or Tyson Fury.
That is according to Itauma’s trainer, Ben Davison, who revealed to talkSPORT that the Chatham southpaw has too much respect for his fellow countrymen to ever fight them.
“How does that happen if they are from the same gym?” Davison told talkSPORT’s Gareth A. Davies and Spencer Oliver about a potential clash between his two students, Itauma and Joshua.
He then added: “The Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua fights, they have both been very supportive and there is a hell of a lot of respect there.
“They’ve given him advice and tried to help him grow.
“This week, AJ has even dropped me a message and asked if he can help with Moses.
“So those fights are obviously just never going to happen.
“There’s too much respect there. Obviously, AJ has been in the gym with Moses, and Moses has also been to Fury’s camp.
“There’s too much respect for those fights to happen.
“But there’s so much going on in the heavyweight division, it’s on fire. There’s plenty of other fights.”
What is Moses Itauma’s relationship with Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury?
Itauma has been taken under Joshua’s wing during their time training together at Ben Davison’s Performance Centre in Essex.
Meanwhile, the youngster has also been used as a regular sparring partner for Fury and played a prominent role in the Mancunian’s preparation for his rematch with Usyk in December.
Both men have had nothing but good things to say about Itauma.
Especially Fury, who recently branded his compatriot the ‘future of heavyweight boxing’.
“One thing I will say about Moses, he’s a good fighter, he’s a good boxer,” said Fury.
“He’s like a sponge, you tell him something and he absorbs it, he listens. He’s only 20 years old.”