Moses Itauma Speaks To Piers Morgan Ahead Of Heavyweight Fight vs Hrgović | Full Interview

0:01Piers Morgan:Late night bites with friends? Already hard to beat. That first too hot bite of fries you couldn't wait for, followed by ice cold Pepsi. Now that hits different. Suddenly, the energy kicks back in. The night goes longer, and the laughs don't stop. Because Pepsi brings out more flavor, more fun, and more of the moment. Food deserves Pepsi. Grab a Pepsi Zero Sugar today. I'll tell you who's this. It's just a deal. Moses. Moses Atoma. You never lost a fight as an amateur. Less from the American. You haven't lost a fight as a professional. Treller outside of the ring. Everybody thinks you're the guy.

0:45Piers Morgan:Bro, he's a problem. That carries with it anticipation, expectation. Do you think you have what it takes to live up to all the hype? What's next for this emerging superstar? From the great Henry Cooper to Frank Bruno, Lennox Lewis and Tyson Fury, Great Britain has a proud history of great heavyweight boxing champions. But it's no secret that boxing needs new blood. Britain and indeed the world is looking for its next true superstar. Well, many people in the know say that man is Moses Itauma. At the age of just 21, he's tipped to dominate heavyweight boxing for a generation. But has he got what it takes to be a true great?

1:29Piers Morgan:Where Talma fights Filip Govich for the IBF heavyweight title on August 29th, live and exclusive on DAZN. And he joins me now. Moses, welcome to Uncensored. What's going on, Pearce? You good? Or Mr Morgan, I should say. There's a lot going on, Moses, but probably not as much as there is in your world. I just want to play a clip before we get into the interview. from Joe Rogan, the biggest podcaster on the planet, and obviously one of the guys most associated with UFC. He said this about you. I'll tell you who's the real fucking deal. Moses. Moses Itama? Do you know who that motherfucker is? That 20-year-old heavyweight?

2:13Oh, yes. Bro. Did you see what he did to Dillian White?

2:16Piers Morgan:Yes, he's a problem. Bro. He's a problem. That guy's a real problem. Is he only 20? 20 years old. He's just slightly older than Tyson was when he won the title so he can't be the youngest guy to ever win the title. Damn. This motherfucker is so fast. He moves like a middleweight. I know. He tuned this guy up. One round, man. I mean, again, white is past his prime. He's also gotten beat up. White's gotten... Yeah, sure. Tyson Fury beat him up. A lot of guys beat him up. But this is the test you want for this young contender. It's the way he did it. He did it like I'm a world champion. Now, Moses, when you hear someone like Joe Rogan, who knows a bit about fighting, when you hear him say that about you, what do you feel about that?

3:02No, it's obviously nice to hear. Obviously, Joe Rogan is somebody that, obviously, I grew up listening to. I still listen to his podcast now. So, obviously, for him to obviously say that, and he's in combat sport, is obviously a big deal. but if you're actually asking what it does for me I kind of have to put it to one side because it's like at the minute I'm all I guess hopes I'm all like what I'm going to be and it's like I'm trying to solidify myself as somebody that's doing something if that makes sense Yeah

3:38Piers Morgan:No it does and it's interesting because you say you never get nervous before fights but I see you gulping water now as you talk to me. Would it be accurate to say you might be more apprehensive about... Are you more worried about being interviewed by me than having a fight, Moses? No, I've literally just been... It's hot outside. I don't know if you've been outside. It's hot. And I've just done golf for, like, two hours. So it's like, yeah, I ain't had a swig of water. So you're not just palpitating from nerves about...

4:19Piers Morgan:I'm actually in Los Angeles where it's about five degrees cooler centigrade than it is in England. Now, obviously, I must be doing something right if I'm getting interviewed by Piers Morgan. Well, your words, not mine, Moses, but it means you've reached the big league. But interestingly, I've interviewed a lot of boxers. I've interviewed Mike Tyson five or six times, I think. I know him very well. I did Celebrity Apprentice in America, where Donald Trump was the host, actually, about 20 years ago, with Lennox Lewis. And we became very good friends in that process. I know Frank Bruno very well.

5:01Piers Morgan:From when he was, before he even fought for the British title, I knew Frank. So, you know, British heavyweight champions in particular, but also the greats like Mike Tyson, I've always been attracted to them as a sports fan, as a boxing fan. And everyone I talk to about you, Moses, says the same thing that Joe Rogan did. They all say you're the real deal. You never lost a fight as an amateur. You haven't lost a fight as a professional. Everybody thinks you're the guy. That carries with it a lot of weight of anticipation, expectation, Do you think you have what it takes to live up to all the hype?

5:47It's a great question. I get asked this all the time, but I never actually answer it just because I just don't know. With boxing, you train to get lucky. So it's like every time you do a training session, every time you try to catch them 1%, it's like you can never solidify yourself as a winner. It's just you kind of train to get lucky and like the more you train, the luckier you get, but there's always a chance you might go into the ring and you just be unlucky, you know.

6:16Obviously, it's nice to hear all them nice words, but it's like at the same time, they don't really do me no favour, so I kind of, I do push them to one side and I just, yeah, crack on with my day. It's like, yeah, everybody's still touting me as like, I'm going to be the future, I'm going to, or I'm the next hot property or something like that. Obviously, once I beat Hergovic and I actually become a world champion, I'm no longer going to do these things, but I've done these things, if that makes sense.

6:49Piers Morgan:Yeah, 100%. You said recently to The Guardian, I don't actually want to be under the bright lights, but with the way I'm going, it looks like I ain't got no choice, and that is true. You then said, I'm not braggadocious. It's true. I'm not swagadocious. I love this quote. I don't do anything extraordinary outside the ring. I feel like your increasing popularity might be because I come across as myself. I don't try to be anyone else. I love that quote because I think when I think of all the sportsmen I'm most attracted to as individuals, as personalities, it's the ones I believe are authentic. They're not trying to copy anybody else.

7:27Piers Morgan:They're not trying to be compared to anybody. They're true to themselves above all else. Is that how you see yourself? 100%. I feel like being yourself is what makes you different nowadays. And I feel like being authentic is just like thinking, feeling and acting all in the same way. And it's like, yeah, I think what attracts me to a lot of people is just, I believe it's just that I don't put a facade on that. I try to be myself. Of course, when I come in front of a camera, obviously I want to be a bit more polished. I might not say certain words. Just because, obviously, I still have a family.

8:13I carry my father's name. Obviously, I have a family I represent. Do you get what I mean? So it's like I'm a little bit more professional, but I'm still the same Moses Itauma.

8:26Piers Morgan:Your mum is Slovakian. Your dad's Nigerian. You spent the very early part of your life in Slovakia, and then you joined the rest of your family in Chatham and Kent, not a mile away, actually, not too far away from where I was brought up in East Sussex. How do you... What do you see yourself as? Are you part Slovakian in your mind? Are you British now? Are you part Nigerian? How would you categorise how you view your own identity? I'm all three. I'm all three, obviously. I'd say... Obviously, I was born to a Slovak mother, a Nigerian father. I was born in Slovakia, raised in the UK. But I think English.

9:15I'm a boxer through the British public eyes. I grew up in Kent, so it's kind of hard to not call myself British. So yeah, I'll probably say I'm more free. I wouldn't say I'm not this and I'm not that. I don't think I have a choice if that makes sense. I feel like a lot of, especially I believe mixed race people, they definitely do go for a stage of life. They try to pick a side and I think in my opinion experience, I've just accepted that I'm more free, you know.

10:03Piers Morgan:Yeah, and I think it wasn't a trick question. I think it's a complicated thing to answer. But you're clearly proud of fighting under the British banner, and British boxing fans are very proud of you and have great hopes for what you may achieve. One of your brothers is also a very good boxer. where did you guys get this fighting spirit from is it from your mum from your dad from both what do you think you've got from your slovak mum and your nigerian father

10:38you know my mom my mom is very hard working um she's a very resilient person i might have got that probably from my mom's side um my mom's side of my mom's side of a family they like fighting as well everybody grew up doing kickboxing mma like was fighting in the local town bars pubs and that so um probably that fighting um spirit probably came from my mom's side but um i guess obviously my my dad's nigerian obviously there ain't a heavyweight fighter or so many so many Nigerians are dominating the sport of boxing so obviously like so you got Akoli, Anthony Joshua, Joe Joyce, Daniel Dubois, Deontay Wilder, Efe Jagbar they're all like shaking up the up the scene and it's like they're all Nigerians so I feel like yeah I think it's kind of from both obviously not to take that like obviously a lot of it was myself you know obviously I didn't just make it in or making or I'm not making it in boxing just because I'm Slovak Nigerian like um i of course i have to pat myself on the back and give myself a little bit of credit because there's a lot of people like when i started off boxing there was like a good eight nine of us that were doing very well was boxing at a very high level and um it seems like i'm the only one that's kind of left of that bunch so um obviously i gotta pat myself on the back and say i've done i've done a bit of that you know i interviewed two goats of in my opinion goats

12:13Piers Morgan:to their own sports last year. Novak Djokovic, the tennis player, and Cristiano Ronaldo, who's a good friend of mine, interviewed him many times. I've watched it. The common denominator... Oh, you did? Yeah, because I noticed you follow Ronaldo on Instagram, but you don't follow Messi.

12:33I think I'm a little bit more of a Ronaldo fan, but obviously Messi's Messi, isn't it?

12:41Piers Morgan:He is, but Ronaldo's the goat, in my opinion. But what was interesting about interviewing them and comparing it to your story is that they both came from absolutely nothing in terms of no money as a family. You know, Djokovic talked about being in Belgray when the NATO airstrikes came in and they were spending$10 a week as a family. Ronaldo had so little money that when he went to the Sporting Lisbon Academy, as you saw in the interview, you know, he would be given burgers by two kindly ladies at local McDonald's because he was so hungry. You yourself have talked about when my mum and dad separated, it was hard.

13:18Piers Morgan:Mum had to say, I can't afford to take care of you. You've got to live with your dad. Samuel and I lived in the house on Luton Road in Chatham that my dad owned. We had£7 a week to buy food. And I read that and it really stood out for me is one of the common themes of the greats of sport I've interviewed is that they all came from very little. Do you feel that that is one of the motivating factors for you? The drive, the determination, the commitment, the desire to reach the very top? You know what's mad? Recently, I've been trying to stay and sway away from this because I feel like it gives people from, I guess, middle-class backgrounds a limit.

14:06Like, it's as if to say, like, you can't achieve something unless you come from nothing. The majority of my childhood, like, I had a very, like, good childhood. Obviously, I was in a household with my two brothers. Like, I feel like I lived anybody's or everybody's childhood that come from the UK, if you know what I mean. You obviously, on every Saturdays, you go. You probably got, like, three, four quid that you took out of your mom's purse. to just, like, go and chill in the park. You're there from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. playing football, doing whatever. Like, I lived that normal childhood, you know?

14:49So I wouldn't... Like, obviously, it's not been a driving factor. It's not something that's motivated me because even when you get to a certain point of success where, obviously, Ronaldo and Novak Djokovic would have achieved, like it's like you've earned your money now but why do they keep carrying on it's not I wouldn't say it's like a driving factor like money like it might have been at the beginning but I think when you get to a certain point I think there's something more appealing and then for me it's like obviously I want to become the heavyweight champion of the world if you do win and most

15:31Piers Morgan:people believe you will, then from August 30th onwards, the day after your victory, you'll be world champion. Your life will change dramatically. You'll become a celebrity, whether you like it or not. You'll become extremely wealthy, whether you think that's a good thing or bad. You've had time to think about this. What do you think that reality is going to be like for you to deal with?

16:01It's funny because when I spoke to both AJ and Tyson, they said that the higher the fight or the more higher profile the fight is, the bigger the crash they have. And especially Tyson was saying like, you build up, you build up, you build up to such a big event. And then that event happens and after you just have a big crash. So I don't know. I'm not even thinking about what's going to happen after. I just want to get through August 29th. I believe it's August 29th. I think that's the date.

16:36Piers Morgan:It is August 29th, isn't it? Yeah. How do you think you're going to fit? You're going up against a guy who's a pretty good fighter. He's a lot older than you. He's been talking a big game at you about this fight. You know, many think it may be your toughest test. Do you ever get apprehensive when you get into a ring? Will you be apprehensive when you get into that ring on August the 29th?

17:06I think we'll just have to wait and see. I feel like we've... I get asked the same question about pressure. How do you deal with pressure next by Z? And it's just something that it's like, as much as you want to prepare for it, you just never know until you're under that bright light. so with that being said I don't I won't really know unless I'm there you know but I feel like I'm coping with it well obviously it's not the first time I've headlined I've headlined in Saudi Arabia I've headlined in Manchester Manchester was a sold out crowd so I'm dealing with it good and we'll see hopefully I can continue shining

17:52Piers Morgan:Mike Tyson famously said everyone's got a plan till they get punched in the face. Do you think that your opponent on August 29th has got a plan for you that may be ended by a big right hand in the face?

18:11Or it could be the left. I don't know. I feel like being punched in the face should be part of your plan. Like, it's all right having a plan and then thinking it's all going to go well, but you should have a plan B and C, you know? So, yeah, I think I'm confident in my team. I'm confident in my preparation. Obviously, we've only got two weeks now left until fight night. It's like once you get to fight week, it's like you know the hard work is done. Like now it's kind of the easy work, which is to kind of just, yeah, do a fight, if that makes sense.

18:53Piers Morgan:How do you feel about all the comparisons to Tyson, to Mike Tyson? Because you would be the second youngest heavyweight champion ever after him. He was 20, you would be 21. Even Tyson's early trainer and mentor, Teddy Atlas, says he thinks you're better than Mike Tyson at the same stage. He said, Itama is different from Tyson in that he's more dimensional. He can do more things. He can box a little bit. He can counterpunch. I've seen him set traps. He can go get you. He can go in the trenches. He can go in close, go to the body, go to the head, put punches together. Tyson was more of a one-direction-seek-and-destroy machine, but a very good one.

19:35Piers Morgan:Tom was one of the first heavyweights since Tyson. Well, I can say he shows you that combination of pure speed and pure power that Tyson showed. I mean, that's an incredible... I remember watching Mike Tyson. I went to several of his fights when he was 20. I've never seen anything quite like it to have Teddy Atlas say that about you is quite extraordinary does are you affected by that? are you excited by that? are you a little bit unnerved by that?

20:09not really like Teddy Atlas obviously I know Mike Tyson and Teddy Atlas had their little back and forth so I don't know if he's just saying that just to dimmer down Tyson's light With that being said, with Tyson, obviously, he was... He's an iconic man, like, not just in boxing, not just in sport, but just in history. Like, I feel like I might have been maybe naive from obviously when I first turned professional. Obviously, I just wanted to emulate what Tyson did and obviously become the youngest heavyweight world champion. So I set my standards so high. I set the bar so high. And I just wanted to kind of just get to the world title as soon as possible.

20:58Obviously, I wasn't able to get to the world title, but obviously I landed a Dillian White fight. Obviously, a couple months down the line, I have a world title fight. So I don't like to kind of... I don't like the claim of becoming the second youngest every champion only because obviously second is the first loser. I don't really want to have that claim. It's more of the fact that I just want to show people that I'm able to do things at such a young age. I guess I can't help the comparison with Mike Tyson. That's probably something that I'd probably put on my own shoulders.

21:41Piers Morgan:Have you ever met Mike Tyson or spoken to him? Yeah, I've spoken to him, it might have been once or twice when we were in Saudi Arabia. Obviously he's a legend.

21:56Piers Morgan:Did he give you any advice? Yeah, he said, not everybody's a bum and you can learn more from your losses than you do if you win. Which I thought was very interesting because in my mind I was like, I ain't even trying to lose. but you know sometimes shit happens Well you've never lost which is a fascinating fact about you it's added to your mythology if you like it's why people think you are the great new thing because you just don't lose how do you think you would handle a big high profile defeat if it came to it or do you not even allow yourself to think about it

22:42Do you know, I thought about this question a few times and like where I am in my life I believe, I think it would be more about how I lost more than if I lost. I just feel like it can never happen but at the same time it could. So, I don't know. It's one of them things I'll have to see how I deal with it when I get there. But I don't want to get there, if that makes sense.

23:18Piers Morgan:Yeah, no, it completely makes sense. Obviously, there are big British heavyweight champions out there, Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury. You said about Tyson Fury, we won't fight. I don't think I would want to fight him. I sparred with him. That's enough for me. I had the privilege to speak with him when I trained with him. He was a very interesting man. It was a big blessing sharing the ring with him. Even more of a blessing asking him about life, about religion, about money. To me, Tyson Fury is one of the most interesting people I've ever interviewed. And I can absolutely imagine the conversations you've had with him being fascinated because he's a really fascinating guy.

23:56Piers Morgan:Why wouldn't you want to get in the ring with him? Why would I not want to get in the ring with Tyson Fury? It's more of the fact that obviously everybody knows that Tyson Fury, he's no longer in his prime. Anthony Joshua is no longer in his prime. These guys, they're all starting to hit the end of their careers, which obviously nature happens. and for me to call out somebody that's like past their best, it's just kind of, I think it's a bit disrespectful. I can sit here and say, obviously, Tyson Fury in his prime, me in my prime, that would have been or would be a great fight, but obviously it's not going to happen.

24:43But I've got a lot of respect for Tyson. Obviously, I've done a week in Malta, three weeks in Saudi, two weeks in Morecambe. Like, I spend a lot of time with him. I've managed to pick his brains on a lot of things. Obviously, he's walked the path that I wanna walk. So it's like, why would you not ask him loads of questions? And that's the same thing for Anthony Joshua. Like, obviously, he was training with Ben Davison for a long time. Like, I managed to pick his brains on a few things. And it's like, for me, like, that's enough, you know? For that as well, it would be disrespectful for me to say I'd want to fight Anthony Joshua next to what I said, only because he's obviously passed his best.