For those fed up with the slow-moving, tedious Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury will-they-ever-actually-fight saga, Moses Itauma is refreshingly different.
While talks to match former champions Joshua and Fury dragged on this week, Itauma has been preparing to complete one of the fastest journeys to world heavyweight champion.
If Itauma (14-0, 12 KOs) beats Filip Hrgovic for the vacant IBF belt on Saturday he will win his first world title in only his 15th fight, one fight quicker than Joshua and 10 fights sooner than Fury.
Itauma, who was born in Slovakia but moved to Kent in England aged four, will also become the second-youngest world heavyweight champion, aged 21 years and 244 days old, behind only Mike Tyson in 1986.
Furthermore, only three men have won a world heavyweight title in fewer professional bouts: Leon Spinks (8) in 1978; James J. Corbett (11) in 1892, and James J. Jeffries (13) in 1899.
Number of professional fights to win a world title, selected list
Vasiliy Lomachenko, 3
Naoya Inoue, 6
Oleksandr Usyk, 10
Anthony Joshua, 16
Floyd Mayweather, Jr 18
Naseem Hamed, 20
David Haye, 21
Joe Calzaghe, 23
Lennox Lewis, 23
Terence Crawford, 23
Carl Froch, 24
Tyson Fury, 24
Manny Pacquiao, 26
Wladimir Klitschko, 36
Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, 37
Ricky Hatton, 39
How does Moses Itauma's rise compare to Anthony Joshua?
Of those big names, that Itauma could become world champion sooner than Joshua is the most interesting comparison.
Itauma gets his first world title shot in his third year as a professional, just like Joshua did. Also, like Joshua, Itauma challenges for his world title at the O2 Arena in southeast London, where a 26-year-old AJ battered Charles Martin for a Round 2 KO win in April 2015 with the same IBF title on the line.
Physically, there is also symmetry with Joshua, who is two inches taller at 6-foot-6 and weighed 244 pounds for his 16th professional fight vs. Martin, while Itauma tipped the scales at 242 pounds for his last fight in March vs. Jermaine Franklin.
While both are knockout punchers, Joshua had a better knockout ratio (100%) after 14 fights compared to Itauma's 85.7%. Itauma has been quicker with his wins though, with six first-round wins compared to Joshua's five opening-round victories in his first 14 fights.
But Joshua was still more ruthless in his first 14 pro fights. Itauma has 11 wins inside two rounds, while Joshua sealed 12 wins within two rounds. Joshua had boxed 25 rounds by the same stage as Itauma, who has 31 rounds under his belt.
Joshua, who is orthodox with a rigid, upright guard, liked to study many of his early opponents and work behind the jab before openings presented themselves. Southpaw Itauma is less cautious and more fluid, with hands sometimes down and will instinctively go for a KO after minutes.
Who fought tougher rivals, Moses Itauma or Anthony Joshua?
If AJ edges the KO ratio, Itauma deserves the decision for level of opposition. Itauma stepped up in class sooner than Joshua and on Saturday faces a better opponent than Joshua did for his first world title bout. Hrgovic (20-1, 15 KOs), 34, from Croatia, has been among the heavyweight elite for a few years and won a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics as an amateur. Martin was one of the poorest world heavyweight champions in recent history who has never fought for a world title again and has now lost five fights.
In Itauma's last fight, he bludgeoned Franklin (24-3, 15 KOs) in five rounds in March, the same durable American contender who took Joshua the 12-round distance in April 2023. Joshua's 14th professional opponent was Gary Cornish, who never got near world title contender status.
Dillian Whyte (31-4, 21 KOs), 38, may have been younger and leaner when he gave Joshua a fright in AJ's 15th professional fight, before Joshua flattened him in seven rounds in 2015, but Itauma's brutal first-round KO of Whyte was still hugely impressive a year ago. Itauma got the job done quicker than Joshua and also Fury, who stopped Whyte in six rounds to defend his WBC world title in 2022.
Can Moses Itauma match Anthony Joshua's star appeal?
As for popularity and profile, Joshua was undoubtedly ahead of Itauma. That was down to Joshua's gold medal triumph at the 2012 Olympics in London, when he became one of the faces of the Games. It meant Joshua turned professional with mainstream interest, not as an unknown 18-year-old as Itauma did.
Over the last decade since first becoming world champion, Joshua has become one of sport's highest earners. Joshua's ring earnings have been topped up by lucrative sponsorship deals and his worth was recently estimated at £240M ($320M) as he placed eighth-richest for sportspeople's finances on the Sunday Times Rich List.
If Itauma has trod a similar entertaining and destructive journey to AJ up to this point, we can expect him to amass a similar fortune over the coming years as long as he sustains his current form.
Itauma might not have the popularity and fame that Joshua did at this stage of his career, but a world title belt will catapult him to bigger fights and wider exposure.
While statistics show AJ had a slightly better KO ratio and required fewer rounds for his wins at the same stage of his career, Itauma has earned his first world title shot five years sooner than Joshua. That is perhaps the most convincing point in comparing the two fighters, but it counts for nothing if Itauma cannot convert his exciting potential into a world title belt on Saturday.