British heavyweight contender Moses Itauma will fight Croatian Filip Hrgovic for the vacant International Boxing Federation world heavyweight title at London's O2 Arena on Saturday.
Victory for the undefeated 21-year-old would see him become Britain's youngest heavyweight world champion in history and the second-youngest overall behind American legend Mike Tyson.
Itauma's promoter, Frank Warren, believes beating Hrgovic would propel the young fighter beyond boxing into mainstream sporting stardom.
"If he comes through, I don't think he'd just be an icon in boxing," Warren told Sky Sports News. "He'd be a sporting icon."
The contest was agreed in June and was elevated to world title status after unified champion Oleksandr Usyk decided to relinquish the IBF belt.
Chasing Heavyweight History
Itauma will be aged 21 years, eight months and one day on fight night. Throughout his 14-fight professional career, he has swept aside every opponent while completing just 31 professional rounds, having turned professional without competing in senior amateur bouts.
"I'll be very proud if that happens," Warren said. "It will be a fantastic achievement for somebody who's only had 31 professional rounds of boxing and no senior bouts as an amateur."
Despite Itauma's limited ring time, Warren praised his fighter's mental and physical maturity. "He's the best young fighter at this stage of his career that I've been involved with," Warren said. "He's so mature, mentally and physically, as a fighter. He's got a tremendous boxing brain and he's very articulate."
Warren added that Itauma is a "very smart young man" who remains "very level-headed, very humble" while possessing exceptional fighting ability.
In his previous bout, Itauma delivered a fifth-round knockout to stop Jermaine Franklin at Manchester's Co-op Live Arena.
Tyson holds the record as the youngest heavyweight world champion in history, having won the WBC title at age 20 in November 1986. Itauma now stands on the brink of a victory that could shape the division for a generation.
Challenge of Filip Hrgovic
In Hrgovic, Itauma faces a significant step up in opposition. The 34-year-old Croatian is a former Olympic bronze medallist with 15 knockouts in his professional career.
"Itauma is fighting somebody who's not just coming to show up," Warren said. "He's in with a tough guy, Filip Hrgovic, a really good, tough competitor."
Hrgovic has won all of his fights except for a single TKO loss to current WBO champion Daniel Dubois, which was stopped because of a cut eye.
The Croatian is also seeking to make history. "Where he comes from in Croatia, he'd be the first boxer to win a heavyweight title, so he wants to create history himself," Warren noted.
Changing of the Guard
The championship bout comes during a period of transition in the heavyweight division as established champions move on.
"All these fighters who are now fighting for the vacant titles are looking to jockey into position because it's an exciting time in the heavyweight division," Warren said.
"The older generation, like Tyson Fury and Usyk, who didn't want to defend his titles and vacated them, are looking to do other things, so these are the young bucks coming through."
The International Boxing Federation is one of four major sanctioning bodies in professional boxing alongside the WBA, WBC, and WBO. Saturday's clash at the O2 Arena, a major combat sports venue in East London, will crown a new world champion in the division.
