Itauma taking ideas off heavyweight royalty

MOSES ITAUMA has taken a pinch of braggadocio from Tyson Fury.

- BY MARTIN DOMIN

He has extracted a dollop of wisdom from Anthony Joshua.

And his precocious power is straight from Mike Tyson's recipe book.

But the 21-year-old's borrowing stops there.

Itauma has long been peddled as the heavyweight heir to his fighting forefathers.

His potential is laid bare in his eight first-round knockouts from his 11 stoppages in 13 professional fights - stats eerily similar to Tyson's fledgling years.

Should he win a world title this year, he will be younger than Muhammad Ali was when he was crowned in 1964.

Before then he faces the dogged challenge of Jermaine Franklin tonight in Manchester. And inflicting a first-ever stoppage defeat on the American visitor will only amplify the hype - and the comparisons.