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Moses Itauma showed his destructive power with a knockout performance at Wembley Arena on Saturday night.
In what was his fifth professional outing, the Chatham teenager sent Belgium’s Amine Boucetta to the canvas early on before finishing him off with a flurry of shots, prompting the towel to be thrown in and referee Marcus McDonnell to wave it off, with just 1:33 on the clock.
Itauma spoke briefly afterwards to say it was his best performance yet since turning pro.
He said: “It’s the best performance I have had - the only performance I am satisfied with…it’s all about progression and being better than my last fight.”
Itauma (5-0) had won his previous two bouts on points but this was a show of strength from the 18-year-old who has eyes on becoming the youngest-ever World Heavyweight Champion, a record held by Mike Tyson.
The ringside commentators were certainly impressed with his performance, fighting on the undercard of the much-hyped Joe Joyce-Zhilel Zhang rematch, live on TNT Sports.
Following the knockdown, commentator Darren Fletcher said: “There is the destructive power of this exciting teenager who gets another stoppage.”
It’s his third stoppage win out of his five professional victories.
Itauma put Boucetta on his backside after following up a jab with a devastating left uppercut onto the chin. The 31-year-old Belgian survived the count but the Kent boxer steamed back at his opponent with a devastating flurry of shots that left Boucetta on his knees as the referee stepped in.
Former WBC super-middleweight champion Richie Woodhall, TNT Sports’ co-commentator, was impressed, saying: “What a peach of a punch that first uppercut was, excellent delivery, the timing, the power and the speed, it was all there.
“He showed us the business in terms of punch power and precision with the shot…what a win that was.”