By James Hicken
Copyright independent
Ben Davison has backed Moses Itauma to rise to the very top of the sport and become the pound-for-pound No 1 fighter on the planet.
The world champion trainer believes the 20-year-old heavyweight sensation will deliver on his potential and soon put himself in the pound-for-pound conversation.
Davison explained on TalkSPORT: “I don’t think this country has ever produced a pound-for-pound best boxer in the world. I think we have an opportunity to do that.”
It is exceedingly rare for a heavyweight to top the list. Only recently with the domination of Oleksandr Usyk at cruiserweight and heavyweight, becoming a three-time undisputed champion in the process, has someone in the blue-riband division been considered the best in the world.
But in Itauma, Davison said that the young phenom could make history.
Itauma’s trainer said: “I don’t think a heavyweight [has been pound-for-pound best], barring now a bit of talk with Usyk.
“For a heavyweight – a British heavyweight – to have the potential to be the pound-for-pound best boxer in the world, that’s what we have got in terms of Moses Itauma.”
Usyk has been in the conversation for being pound-for-pound best since he became undisputed heavyweight champion against Tyson Fury last year and bolstered his argument after knocking out Daniel Dubois earlier this year to reclaim the IBF title he relinquished.
But Itauma has been breezing past all the competition in the heavyweight division so far, most recently shocking the world with an easy first-round knockout win over heavyweight veteran and former world title challenger Dillian Whyte in August.
Itauma is expected to return in December against an unconfirmed opponent, but promoter Frank Warren has promised it will be against a top 10 heavyweight to edge him even closer to a world title.
Usyk’s future is currently uncertain as he takes a break from the ring after receiving a medical exemption from negotiating a fight against his mandatory challenger, Joseph Parker.
But Davison believes Itauma is already a genuine threat to Usyk’s reign, and if an opportunity to fight the all-time great before he retires was presented, he is backing his man.
He said: “There is nobody else with a better chance of beating Oleksandr Usyk right now than Moses Itauma. That’s my true, honest feelings.”
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