29/08/2026
I remember walking up the stairs from my office and seeing a solitary figure standing in reception.
Before anyone said a word, I sized him up. Years in the game teach you to read a man before he opens his mouth.
They told me he was here to spar with the amateurs.
Take your pick: Delicious Orie — national champion.
Boma Brown — still the heaviest‑handed boxer I’ve ever trained.
Sonny Clarke — an irresistible force in the youths, built like a grown man.
I looked the kid in the face and asked how old he was.
“15.”
I assumed Mick Maguire was just helping a club out — giving a junior a few technical rounds, jab drills, confidence work. I didn’t give him my usual barrage of questions. No CV, no sparring history, no accolades. I pigeonholed him, grabbed a coffee, and went back to the office.
Later, during a 30‑minute work block, I glanced up at the CCTV. What I saw looked like poetry in motion. It pulled me out of my chair. I had to see it live.
Jamie Cahil — a man who’s seen thousands of fighters — nodded at me:
“That’s the Itauma kid I told you about.”
His timing. His ability to draw shots, slide, counter, read everything. Unfazed by men bigger, stronger, more experienced.
I stood next to Mick Maguire — half an ear missing, full of fire — barking orders at the heavyweights. I leaned in:
“Mick… who is this kid?”
Mick ignored me, eyes locked on the ring.
“GOOD KID. GO AGAIN.”
The junior kept making our heavyweights miss and then punishing them for it.
When the bell rang, Mick finally spoke:
“Talent is impossible to miss.”
Thirty seconds was all it took.
Moses Itauma — unassuming, quietly confident, 15 years old — travelling to gyms to spar top kids.
I’ve sparred a young Tyson Fury, Frazer Clarke as an amateur, been around seasoned heavyweights in Haye’s camp for a world title. You see exceptional kids come through, but attitude or application often kills it.
Not with him.
Tonight, as Moses Itauma steps onto the big stage, I’m reminded of that day in the Henrietta Street gym — and Mick Maguire’s words:
“Talent is impossible to miss.”
