Moses Itauma’s showdown with Filip Hrgovic for the vacant IBF heavyweight title in London this weekend got all the promotional bells and whistles you’d expect.
The fight poster boomed “WITNESS GREATNESS” and was deployed in digital form across Underground stations with a digital clock counting down to the first bell.
Despite being an established elite-level heavyweight, none of this bluster was aimed in Hrgovic’s direction.
Itauma is the prince that was promised to British boxing, having set tongues wagging with his sparring exploits when he gave prime professionals all they could handle in the gym in his mid-teens.
MORE: Moses Itauma vs. Filip Hrgovic undercard, prediction: Full expert breakdown
Since entering the professional ranks, his progress has been exemplary — a run of 14 consecutive wins and 12 knockouts setting up his showdown with Hrgovic for a portion of the fractured heavyweight crown.
If he gets the job done, Itauma will rank highly among the youngest heavyweight champions of all time.
Queensberry
Who is the youngest heavyweight champion all-time in boxing?
Mike Tyson‘s record as the youngest heavyweight champion in history is safe, whatever happens in the Itauma vs. Hrgovic fight.
‘Iron Mike’ was 20 years, four months and 23 days old when he demolished Trevor Berbick at the Las Vegas Hilton on November 22, 1986, to win the WBC title.
When Itauma turned professional in 2023, his handlers briefly talked up the prospect of him taking Tyson’s record, but careers seldom move as quickly nowadays. Still, he will come in second on the list if he gets the job done against Hrgovic.
When he faces off with his Croatian foe at the O2 Arena, Itauma will be 21 years, eight months and one day old.
Youngest heavyweight boxing champions in history
| Fighter | Title | Date | Age | |
| 1. | Mike Tyson | WBC | November 22, 1986 | 20 years, 4 months, 23 days |
| 2. | Floyd Patterson | NBA, NYSAC | November 30, 1956 | 21 years, 10 months, 26 days |
| 3. | Muhammad Ali | WBA, WBC | February 25, 1964 | 22 years, 8 days |
| 4. | Joe Lewis | NBA, NYSAC | June 22, 1937 | 23 years, 1 month, 9 days |
| 5. | Jack Dempsey | Lineal | July 4, 1919 | 23 years, 10 days |
| 6. | George Foreman | WBA, WBC | February 22, 1973 | 24 years, 12 days |
| 7. | Joe Frazier | NYSAC | March 4, 1968 | 24 years, 1 month, 21 days |
| 8. | James J. Jefferies | Lineal | June 9, 1899 | 24 years, 1 month, 25 days |
| 9. | Michael Dokes | WBA | December 10, 1982 | 24 years, 4 months |
| 10. | Wladimir Klitschko | WBO | October 14, 2000 | 24 years, 6 months, 19 days |
As the list above indicates, Itauma would be mixing in some esteemed company.
Tyson took the record from Floyd Patterson, the former two-time heavyweight champion. Patterson lost his titles to the formidable Sonny Liston, which gave Muhammad Ali — then Cassius Clay — the chance to upset the champ and enter these rankings just behind Patterson, whom he would later beat twice.
Ali’s famous rivals Joe Frazier and George Foreman were also notably young heavyweight kings. Foreman floored Frazier a remarkable six times inside two brutal rounds to become the champion when they fought in Jamaica in January 1973.
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