Amateur heavyweight claims he would like to make his professional against Moses Itauma.
It seemed unbelievable a few decades ago, but the heavyweight division is no longer dominated by American fighters. Such was their abundance throughout a huge portion of history, it seemed they would be around forever.
However, they aren’t just not the most dominant force anymore, but they are vastly outnumbered at the top level of the division.
The reason for this is most often put down to larger men from the United States instead going into American football. But still, you’d expect the country’s standing at the weight over the years would remain somewhat of a constant.
Right now, America is predominantly represented at heavyweight by two men: Jarrell Miller and Richard Torrez Jr. Miller recently won a title eliminator, while Torrez is going to fight in one later this month.
But if they both end up not reaching the heights some expect of them, American fans still have someone else to look to with hope as their next heavyweight world champion.
Joseph Awinongya Jr. is a very promising-looking 18-year-old who currently competes as an amateur. The son of former professional cruiserweight Joseph Awinongya, Awinongya Jr. is a 26-time national boxing champion.
Appearing in England for the Fabio Wardley vs. Daniel Dubois fight week, the teenage talent conducted an interview with BoxNation. And having met up with Frank Warren, he was sizing up potential future opposition in the Queensberry Promotions roster.
And while the youngster had plenty to say in favour of himself, it was who he claimed he wanted to fight in his professional debut that undoubtedly raised a few eyebrows.
“Yeah, so we went ahead and met with Frank Warren, was able to just go ahead and start buildin’ a relationship from there”, Awinongya Jr. stated. “But then, as you said, in a couple of years, I will be fighting some of these guys. And if it was able to be, I would like to fight someone like Moses [Itauma] for my first fight and then go ahead and get them out the way earlier to showcase that I will be the best.”
Moses Itauma is considered by many as the most promising young fighter not only in the heavyweight division, but in the entirety of boxing.
Awinongya Jr. stated that he will be turning professional after winning a gold medal at the upcoming 2028 Summer Olympics. By that stage, many have predicted that Itauma will already be world champion. And if Awinongya Jr. were to fight the Briton at such a stage in his very first professional outing, it would be reminiscent of Pete Rademacher’s challenge of Floyd Patterson in 1957.
Whether Joseph Awinongya Jr. is the future of American heavyweight boxing or not, his journey should be very interesting to watch as it continues to progress.
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