Teremoana Says He's 'Too Small': Calling Out Moses Itauma at 21-0 Potential

Teremoana Teremoana has never gone past the second round in a professional fight, and he thinks that's exactly the kind of firepower Moses Itauma isn't built to handle. The Australian Olympian, who owns a flawless record entirely by knockout, told DAZN that Itauma is simply too small to survive a clash between them. His pitch is blunt: he's a 120kg (265lbs) genuine heavyweight who spends his camps trying to shed weight, and he believes his physical attributes settle the argument before the first bell.

It's a bold shout aimed at one of the sport's brightest young talents. Itauma is 14-0 with 12 knockouts, ranked #6 at heavyweight, and he's not far off Teremoana's finishing rate himself. At 6ft 4in and around 240lbs he isn't small by any normal measure — he just isn't the walking mountain Teremoana fashions himself as. The 21-year-old's game is built on speed and footwork, the same tools that carried him to a fifth-round stoppage of Jermaine Franklin back in March.

The Gap in Résumés

Here's where the callout gets awkward. Teremoana, 28, has stopped every man he's faced inside two rounds, but that padded record has come against, in the source's words, entirely inferior opposition. He returns August 12 against club-level fighter DeAndre Savage, headlining a Matchroom card in Queensland. Talking about clashing with a top-six heavyweight is one thing; the level of competition on his ledger says he's a long way from earning that fight.

Itauma, meanwhile, is moving at a completely different pace. He's a big favourite to beat seasoned veteran Filip Hrgovic on August 29 at London's O2 Arena, with the vacant IBF title on the line. Win that, and he'll be chasing the record as the youngest heavyweight champion since Mike Tyson.

What Comes Next

The IBF picture doesn't leave much room for wishful matchmaking either. If Itauma gets past Hrgovic, mandatory challenger Frank Sanchez is next in the queue. Sanchez sits at #7 with a 26-1 (19 KO) record and is fresh off a second-round knockout of Richard Torrez — a real name, with real leverage on Itauma's timeline.

So Teremoana's confidence is fine as motivation, but the maths is unforgiving. He needs to trade knockouts of no-hopers for a genuine test, and soon, if he wants his size argument to mean anything against a fighter already brushing up against the world's best. For now, it's a promise from a man who hasn't yet proved he belongs in that conversation.