Moses Itauma is just a few steps away from making heavyweight history as he prepares to face Dillian ‘The Bodysnatcher’ Whyte.
Moses Itauma is just 20 years of age, and has already been mentioned in the same sentence as Oleksandr Usyk by Turki Alalshikh.
Hoping to meet or exceed expectations, Itauma will step-up against Dillian Whyte this Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
A win over Whyte could set up a world title shot against Joseph Parker, provided Usyk vacates the WBO belt.
Itauma has missed his chance to beat Mike Tyson and become boxing’s youngest heavyweight champion, though he could become the second youngest, outdoing Muhammad Ali in the process.
Ahead of his major test against Whyte, here are the top six youngest heavyweight champions, men Itauma hopes to be accompanying in the near future.
George Foreman
In sixth place is the destructive heavyweight force that is George Foreman, who became a world champion at the age of 24 years and 12 days old.
To claim the title, Foreman stopped the fierce Joe Frazier in just two rounds in Kingston, Jamaica.
Foreman was not only one of the youngest champions, but also the oldest, as he defeated Michael Moorer to reclaim the world title at the age of 45.
Foreman and Manny Pacquiao are the only two men to win world titles over twenty years apart.
Jack Dempsey
Edging out Foreman by just two days to claim a spot in the top five, Dempsey won the title at 24 years and 10 days of age.
Dempsey became a champion with a brutal beatdown of Jess Willard, dropping him seven times in the opening round before stopping him in the third.
Despite his age, Dempsey fought just eight more times before retiring after a loss to Gene Tunney in 1927. His record was 53-6-8.
Joe Louis
Arguably one of the greatest heavyweights ever, Joe Louis became a champion at just 23 years, 1 month, and 9 days of age.
Louis became the champion with a win over ‘The Cinderella Man’ Jim Braddock, whose fairytale rise came to an end against the heavyweight great.
Louis enjoyed wins over Jersey Joe Walcott and Tony Galento, and was only beaten by two men whom he was unable to beat after – Ezzard Charles and Rocky Marciano.
Muhammad Ali
‘The Greatest’ Muhammad Ali needs no introduction, and many will already be familiar with his thrilling world title victory over the fearsome Sonny Liston.
For Ali, a world title win was just the beginning, as he went on to defeat Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Leon Spinks, Ron Lyle, Earnie Shavers, and Floyd Patterson.
He outdid Louis by over a year, claiming the crown at the age of 22 years and 8 days old.
Ali lost to just two men whom he couldn’t later defeat – Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick.
Floyd Patterson
One of Ali’s victims actually one-ups him in this list, as Floyd Patterson became a world champion at the age of 21 years, 10 months and 26 days of age.
Patterson retired with a record of 55-8-1, defeating Henry Cooper and sharing the ring with Ali and Liston.
He defeated the legendary Archie Moore, and Patterson was famously encouraged by Moore to continue after his loss to Ingemar Johansson, with Moore giving Patterson advice on how to beat Johansson, which he later did.
Mike Tyson
The youngest heavyweight champion ever is none other than Iron Mike Tyson, who demolished Trevor Berbick to pick up the belt at the age of 20 years, 4 months, and 23 days old.
Moses Itauma missed his chance to usurp Tyson of his record, but could land himself in second place if the stars align after a win over Whyte.
At the time of writing this article, Itauma is 20 years, 7 months, and 5 days old.
This means Itauma still has 1 year, 3 months, and 20 days to one-up Floyd Patterson, Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, and George Foreman by taking the number two spot, landing firmly in the history books.