Prince Naseem Hamed has never been shy with an opinion. Even by his standards, though, this is explosive.
Standing firmly in the corner of Moses Itauma, the former featherweight king insists Britain’s newest heavyweight hope is not just the future of the division – he is already streets ahead of its biggest names.
“A million times better” than Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury, says Hamed. And he is not joking.
‘On another level’
Itauma, just 21 and unbeaten in 14 professional fights, steps into the O2 Arena on Saturday to face Croatia’s Filip Hrgovic for the vacant IBF heavyweight title. Fourteen fights in, a world title on the line, and a legend of British boxing is calling him the best of the lot.
“Moses is on another level to the likes of Tyson Fury and Tyson would say that himself. Tyson would not want to fight Moses and neither would Joshua,” Hamed told BBC Sport. “If they did I would say they are very brave.”
That is not hype from a promoter. It is a verdict from a man who knows exactly what it means to be the young phenomenon with the world at his feet.
Victory over Hrgovic would make Itauma the second-youngest heavyweight world champion in history, behind only Mike Tyson. He would also get there one fight quicker than Joshua, who claimed his first world title in his 16th professional bout.
The numbers stack up ominously for the rest of the division. Fury has lost twice – both to Oleksandr Usyk – while Joshua has been beaten four times in 34 contests. Itauma, by contrast, has yet to take a backward step.
Respect for the past, faith in the future
Hamed is not dismissing what came before. Far from it. He talks about Fury and Joshua with clear admiration – then draws a sharp line.
“I think Tyson Fury was amazing for British boxing and what he achieved, what he did and brought to the game and how colourful he was as a personality,” Hamed, now 52, said.
“I think Joshua did an amazing job early in his career to win a world title and be an ambassador for British boxing.
“[But] I can’t compare Moses. He is a million times better than them.”
This is the same Prince Naseem who lit up British boxing in the 1990s, turning ring walks into theatre and title fights into events. The Sheffield-born showman became Britain’s youngest world champion when he dethroned Steve Robinson for the WBO featherweight belt in Cardiff in 1995, aged 21 years and 230 days.
Itauma will fall just short of that particular landmark. If he beats Hrgovic, he will miss Hamed’s age record by 14 days.
Hamed is not bothered.
Records, he insists, are secondary. What matters is that this “special fighter” reaches the heights he believes are inevitable.
A vision shared
Hamed recognises something of himself in Itauma’s journey and mindset.
“Winning a national title as an amateur aged 11 and then having in your head all the way through your amateur career that you’ll be world champion at 21 – I visualised that. I think it’s very much the same for Moses,” he said.
“I’m so confident that Moses is going to be the heavyweight champion of the world. I’m so confident that he’ll defend that belt for as long as he wants.”
Those are not cautious predictions. They are declarations. In Hamed’s eyes, Itauma is not just on course for a title; he is on course to keep it.
Hrgovic: the dangerous underdog
To get there, Itauma must first deal with Hrgovic – and that is no formality on paper.
The 34-year-old Croatian brings experience and pedigree. An Olympic bronze medallist, he has mixed with a higher level of opposition and has lost only once in 21 professional fights – a defeat to current WBO world champion Daniel Dubois in 2024.
That résumé makes Hrgovic the more seasoned man in the ring and, technically, the more proven heavyweight.
Yet the bookmakers and much of the boxing public still cast him as the underdog. Hamed goes even further. He does not just expect Itauma to win; he expects him to stroll through it.
“On paper it’s a test but I don’t think the night that we watch it it will be a test,” he said. “I think it’s going to be one of Moses’ easiest nights of his career and he’ll win a world title.”
An Olympic medallist, a veteran of tougher fights, reduced to a footnote in someone else’s coronation. That is the scale of faith Hamed is placing in Itauma’s talent.
A new throne to claim
While Joshua and Fury circle each other for their long-awaited all-British showdown later this year, the heavyweight division feels like it is turning a page. Usyk sits at the top of the sport. Joshua is rebuilding. Fury is searching for one more defining night.
Into that shifting landscape walks Moses Itauma, with a title on the line and a legend calling him the best of his generation before he has even thrown a punch at world level.
On Saturday at the O2, the noise around him either becomes prophecy or falls flat under the lights.
If Hamed is right, the era of merely talking about the “heir to the heavyweight throne” will be over.
The throne itself will have a new owner.
