Moses Itauma explains why he is supporting Jake Paul before Anthony Joshua fight

To the shock of the boxing world, Joshua, a two-time world heavyweight champion, will return to the ring after a 14-month absence to face Paul on December 19, and it's a contest which has been met with heavy criticism. 

With the curtain slowly coming down on Joshua's storied career, the undefeated Itauma is being billed as the next face of British boxing, and his first round knockout win over Dillian Whyte in August continued to add to the fanfare surrounding him. 

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Itauma returns to action on January 24, live on DAZN, when he faces Jermaine Franklin in Manchester, and while Monday saw the launch press conference take place, much of the conversation was dominated by the Paul-Joshua announcement. 

In a dark room in the bowels of the Co-op Live, a roundtable discussion involving Itauma with members of the media, including DAZN News, inevitably focused on this controversial contest, and the response was unexpected. 

Instead of criticising the fight, Itauma had praise for Paul for what he's achieved so far and regardless of the result in his fight with Joshua, he will get behind his story in the sport of boxing. 

"I don’t hate on any man that’s trying to do well," Itauma said.

"Jake Paul has smashed life, conquered YouTube, now he’s trying to conquer boxing, although I don’t think it’s going to be as easy as he thinks.

"I’m going to be behind him because I like to see a man strive for success, although I don’t want to see him beat AJ, I’m going to be behind him for his success story."

While Itauma will have an eye on proceedings in Miami, a win over Franklin at the start of 2026 will set up what could be the biggest year of his career so far. 

As the world heavyweight title picture slowly becomes clearer with Oleksandr Usyk relinquishing his WBO title to interim champion Fabio Wardley, and the possibility of more vacations to come, Itauma's goal to become a world champion by the end of 2026 is fast becoming a reality. 

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