Moses Itauma is being warned not to jump up the levels to a fight with Martin Bakole despite scoring another vicious knockout on Saturday night.
The 20-year-old heavyweight knockout artist has been chasing Mike Tyson’s record of becoming the youngest world champion in divisional history. But after ticking past 20 years and five months old, he is now unable to take that title from the legend.
Now, he is looking to move up the levels after putting away the 21-1 Mike Balogun in Glasgow on the undercard of Josh Taylor and Ekow Essuman. One man who has emerged as a potential rival is Bakole, who is still viewed as a heavyweight boogeyman despite failing to win his last two outings.
Moses Itauma warned against Martin Bakole fight after latest win
One man who was sitting ringside to watch Moses Itauma score his latest win was hard-hitter Martin Bakole. The 33-year-old from Congo is based in Scotland, and as such didn’t have far to travel to watch his potential opponent.
But after initial talks for a fight between the pair, Itauma is now being warned not to take on Bakole next. Speaking with TalkSPORT after watching the bout live, Bakole explained: “He done well tonight, well done for that.
“He’s got a good future in front of him, but he has a long way to go and to put Martin Bakole’s name in his mouth? That’s a big mistake, even Frank Warren knows that I am not his level to be honest.
“But I am looking to fight for titles. If he wants to fight me, I don’t know, fight him for what? But it’s a good fight… I’m open to it, today people are calling me out and I’m thankful because for nine years in the UK nobody was mentioning my name.
“I’m so proud of myself because today people are mentioning my name and they want to fight me. This is what I want, I want to fight.”
Moses Itauma scored monster KO to continue winning run
Itauma has been the distance just twice in his professional career, getting minutes in during his early four-rounders before moving up the levels into longer bouts. Now that he is facing legitimate names including Demsey McKean and Mariusz Wach, he is landing quickfire knockouts.
It was no different on Saturday night as he took on the tough and durable American Mike Balogun, who refused to quit despite being dropped three times inside two rounds. Ultimately, Itauma knew he would need a vicious knockout, and that’s just what he got in the latter part of round two.
He has refused to call out anyone in particular, choosing to continue through the ranks at his young age. But the fight people seem to want is a test against Bakole, who is 13 years his senior and has fought at the top level.