Moses Itauma’s victories and the arithmetic behind them

Itauma says he beats fighters and then hears the same response every time. They have been washed. They were finished. They weren’t the same. He says he will never get credit. He repeated this recently in an interview with iFL TVdescribing the reaction as something unfair that keeps happening to him.

The problem is not perception. The problem is arithmetic.

Watch the race. Dillian Whyte at 37. Mike Balogun at 41 years old. Mariusz Wach at 44 years old. Dan Garber at 38 years old. Even the youngest names are not peers. These are exits. This is not a list that confuses anyone. It’s a list that perfectly explains the reaction.

Fans are not cruel. They are literal. If a heavyweight prospect flattened this collection of naysayers, the language would be the same. This is not an Itauma tax. This is how boxing works when the competition is visibly dying.

When Itauma complains, he doesn’t do himself any favors. This feels less like trust and more like a grievance. Fans don’t want a heavyweight’s sympathy to be presented as inevitable. They want recognition. Let’s say these are learning battles. Let’s say these are steps. Let’s say that the division is thin. and this is how careers are built. What they don’t want is the surprise that the context exists.

Whyte’s example is the clearest. Whyte had been slowing down for years. He had been stopped by Tyson Fury. He was eliminated by Alexander Povetkin. He worked against Ebenezer Tetteh in 2024. None of this was hidden. Itauma quickly knocking him out didn’t reset the clock.

Itauma wants credit without consequences. He wants to enjoy the benefits of beating names without taking responsibility for what those names actually represent at this point. Boxing doesn’t work that way.

If he wants a different reaction, the solution is boring and unavoidable. Fight someone closer to their own future. In the meantime, the noise is not a sign of disrespect. It’s accuracy.

Itauma will next face veteran Jermaine Franklin on January 24, 2026, at the Co Op Live Arena in Manchester, England. The event will be broadcast live on DAZN.