Moses Itauma is carrying too much fat for a 21-year-old heavyweight, and pretending otherwise does him no favors. At roughly 245 pounds on a 6’4” frame, Itauma has visible softness around his waist that serves no obvious athletic purpose.
This is not about demanding sculpted abdominal muscles from a heavyweight. Tyson Fury has spent his career proving that appearances can deceive. The difference is that Fury developed the stamina to box for 12 rounds while carrying excess weight. Itauma has not shown that capacity. To look at him, he looks like he’s carrying around a good 20+ lbs of fat that shouldn’t be there.
His collapse against Filip Hrgovic exposed the ugly truth. Itauma attacked as though the fight had been scheduled for three rounds, loading up on nearly every punch and trying to overwhelm a seasoned heavyweight with raw speed. Once Hrgovic survived, all that extra mass became baggage. Itauma was just too heavy to fight at any kind of fast pace, especially against someone who wasn’t in his 40s and was actually fighting back.
Poor pacing and excess fat can exist together, and against Hrgovic they made a disastrous combination.
At 21, Itauma should be near the easiest stage of his life for controlling his weight. What happens at 27 or 30, when training camps become harder, and his body no longer responds as quickly? Fat rarely disappears by accident as a heavyweight grows older. More often, 245 becomes 255, then 265, with each increase defended as added strength.
Itauma does not need to become a cruiserweight or pose for fitness magazines. He needs to strip away every pound that does not improve his punching power, durability, or physical control. If he is still soft at 245 after a full training camp, someone must ask what exactly that weight is doing for him. Is trainer Ben Davison going too easy on Itauma in camp?
Click here to subscribe to our FREE newsletter
Latest Boxing News:
Last Updated on 2026/09/11 at 9:11 PM
