Prince Naseem Hamed calls Moses Itauma 'a million times better' than Joshua and Fury ahead of Hrgovic showdown
Prince Naseem Hamed has declared Moses Itauma "a million times better" than Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury — and he meant every word.
The former world featherweight champion made the claim in an interview with BBC Sport, published on 26 August, ahead of Itauma's title fight against Filip Hrgovic at The O2 Arena in London on Saturday, 29 August.
Itauma, 20, carries a professional record of 14 wins, no losses, and 12 knockouts into the biggest fight of his career ESPN. That knockout ratio — better than 85 per cent — tells you what kind of fighter he is. He stops people. His last outing was a first-round demolition of Demsey McKean, a bout that barely got started before it was over BBC Sport, December 2024.
Hamed's praise is about more than raw numbers, though. "A million times better" is the kind of line that stops you scrolling, and it places Itauma above two of the most decorated heavyweights Britain has ever produced. Joshua is a two-time unified world champion. Fury held the WBC title and retired earlier this year after two defeats by Oleksandr Usyk. For a 20-year-old with no major title yet, the comparison is striking.
Hrgovic, a 32-year-old Croatian who has campaigned at world level for years, represents a genuine step up. The event, titled "Natural Born Thriller," is promoted by Queensberry and will be broadcast live on DAZN pay-per-view DAZN. The card gets underway at 7pm BST (2pm ET) The Sun.
Itauma has never been short of confidence. He previously accused heavyweight rival Dillian Whyte of "playing a sheep to catch the wolf," a line that suggests the youngster understands the psychological game as well as the physical one BBC Sport, August 2025. He also has backers in high places beyond Hamed. Tyson Fury said Itauma would "wreck" both Usyk and Joshua — a claim that prompted David Haye, another former world champion, to weigh in on the debate last year Instagram, August 2025.
The heavyweight division keeps circling back to the same question: who is next? Joshua and Fury have dominated the conversation for a decade. Usyk, the undisputed champion who beat both, is 39 and has his own decisions to make. The wider scene is still settling, and a convincing win on Saturday would mark Itauma as the clearest candidate to carry it forward.
There is also the matter of the broader heavyweight map. Fabio Wardley is scheduled to meet Joseph Parker in London on 25 October BBC Sport, September 2025. Add Itauma into the mix and Britain's heavyweight picture is getting crowded again.
What makes Saturday compelling is the gap between the talk and the test. Hamed's endorsement carries weight because he knows what elite talent looks like — he was once the most electrifying fighter in the sport. But Hrgovic has been in deep waters that Itauma has not yet swum. This is the fight that tells us whether the hype is real.
