Simon Jordan believes that Moses Itauma can eclipse both Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua’s achievements in the ring.
Itauma is now gearing up for what is his the biggest step-up of his career, as he faces veteran Dillian Whyte tomorrow night.
The 20-year-old has only been on the professional scene for two years, during that time he has amassed a perfect 12-0 record.
On talkSPORT‘s White&Jordan, Jim White posed the question of whether or not we are entering a vacuum period of heavyweights.
They were discussing how 20-year-old sensation Itauma could be the one to lead the future of the division, which is perhaps otherwise uncertain.
Jordan said: “I don’t think of achievements, I think of personality.
“Fury and Joshua, for different reasons have bags and bags of charisma.
“Tyson Fury for what comes out of his mouth and for Anthony Joshua for his standing, for the way he represents himself.
“If Itauma is what we think he’s going to be, inside the ring he could possibly eclipse what those two boys have done. Outside of the ring, commercially and in terms of representation, I think that’s going to be challenging for him.
“Unless there’s a different side of his personality that we’ve yet to see. We’ll see some of that coming out in this week as he’s headlining.”
Both Fury and Joshua have claimed victories against Itauma’s next opponent Whyte, as well as Otto Wallin, Francis Ngannou and Wladimir Klitschko.
Fury’s professional record stands at 34-2-1 as he announced his retirement from the sport in January after losing a second time to Usyk.
While the 37-year-old has since teased a return to the ring, he has been known to change his mind very often in the past so only time will tell whether or not ‘The Gypsy King’ will return.
Whereas, Joshua is currently gearing up for a comeback bout, following a period of inactivity after his knockout loss to Daniel Dubois.
Joshua has established a record of 28-4 so far in his career, and will be looking to return to winning ways when he is back in the ring.
Both Fury and Joshua are commercial powerhouses in the sport, and regularly sell out stadiums for their blockbuster nights.
But while they’ve been away, Itauma has quickly shaped up to be one of the hottest names in boxing.
Despite only being 20 years old, only two of the opponents the prospect has faced have lasted past the early rounds in the ring.
His reputation has exploded and he is widely regarded as the future of the division, but it is unclear if he can match Joshua and Fury’s selling power.
What’s at stake for Moses Itauma when he faces Dillian Whyte?
Itauma’s current WBO No.1 ranking is up for grabs for Whyte, if the latter claims a win this weekend.
It’s presumed that whoever is in the top spot will be in line for a world title shot against either Usyk or Joseph Parker.
Should Usyk decline the WBO’s order to fight Parker, the interim champion, and vacate the belt then the New Zealand born heavyweight would be upgraded to full title holder.
If the rising star manages his 13th consecutive win, he would be heading into a world title shot with a pristine record.
On Saturday 16 August, talkSPORT brings you live commentary of Moses Itauma vs Dillian Whyte in Saudi Arabia from 7:30pm.
Fans can also watch the action on DAZN and buy the pay-per-view here.