Moses Itauma’s Defensive Strategy: Is He Hiding a Glass Chin?

Moses Itauma says he doesn’t understand why people say his chin needs to be tested to determine if he’s going to be the next great heavyweight. He states that the art of “boxing is to not get hit.” He’s parroting a line that was told to him as a way of deflecting.

Itauma’s Chin Under a Microscope

On August 16th, Itauma (12-0, 10 KOs) could have his chin tested by Dillian Whyte in their 12-round headliner on DAZN PPV in Riyadh. Whyte, 37, is no spring chicken, but he can still punch with either hand. If he can stick around long enough in the fight, he may get a chance to test whether Itauma can take a good punch.

Itauma’s focus on not getting hit causes fans to question whether he’s hiding a glass chin. Traditionally, the fighters who go out of their way not to get hit are protecting a fragile mandible that has been exposed in the past.

Itauma’s opposition has been lacking in power and talent since he turned pro. In the amateurs, Itauma didn’t fight long enough to face the upper echelon of fighters from outside of the UK. He was in a hurry to turn pro. For all we know, he’d have come undone if he fought the top amateurs from Cuba, the U.S, Russia, and Ukraine.

Moses, 20, goes out of his way not to get hit in fights when he’s facing a decent puncher. We saw that in his last fight against 41-year-old Mike Balogun. During Itauma’s amateur days, he often retreated around the ring, trying not to get hit, even against fighters who were run-of-the-mill low-level guys.

Why Itauma Avoids Punches

“The best chins are the ones that don’t get tested. I don’t understand this new concept that you need to get hit on the chin to see if you’re a good boxer. I’ve never understood that. The aim of boxing is to hit and not get hit,” said Mose Itauma to talkSport Boxing, reacting to being told that he ‘still hasn’t been hit on the chin’ by anybody to show he’s a good fighter.”

It sounds like Itauma is hiding something with his avoidance. A fighter doesn’t show the kind of resistance that Moses has about not wanting to get hit without having been hurt in training camp or in fights. Since he’s fought such poor opposition in the amateurs and pros, he’s not been hurt in those fights. We don’t know what’s happened in training camps, where he’s done a lot of sparring over the years.

“So, why am I getting the blame because I don’t get hit. It doesn’t make sense to me. If I go my whole career and I don’t get punched one time, people are going to go, ‘He can’t be a great because he never got hit.’ My chin hasn’t been tested under the bright lights. I don’t want to find out,” said Itauma.