David Haye has been so impressed by a rising boxing talent that he has already declared him unbeatable.
Haye himself quickly rose through the ranks during his own career. Just six years after turning professional, he became the unified cruiserweight world champion and then moved up to the banner division to also claim a world title after defeating the giant Nikolai Valuev.
Following a campaign that was increasingly hampered by injury setbacks, he eventually retired in 2018 after a pair of losses to Tony Bellew.
Speaking to iFL TV with an eye on the heavyweight division now, ‘The Hayemaker’ came out with huge praise for fast-rising young heavyweight sensation Moses Itauma.
“Yeah, I think he beats everybody. I think he beats everybody. The only person is Usyk, that’s the only person… Off the strength of that victory over Dillian Whyte – sounds crazy, I know it sounds mental – but there’s no chinks in his game. I can’t see where anyone can penetrate, what he does bad. Everything’s just really clean and I don’t think I’ve seen that before.”
Itauma is just 20 years old but is already being widely tipped for the top. In his 13 fights so far he has shown great hand speed, good ring IQ, and plenty of punching power, having knocked out 11 of the men he has faced, and nine of them inside the first two rounds.
His swift KO of Dillian Whyte last month only heightened the hype around him but, though Haye thinks he is now ready for Usyk, many others think he should continue his learning journey.
Right now, he is expected to fight towards the end of the year against a top 10 heavyweight, but matchmaking is proving tough. Promoter Frank Warren recently revealed that Filip Hrgovic, the top target, may not accept the offer put to him.
