Moses Itauma has shown a ruthless streak in the ring since he first started.

The 19-year-old picked up his first professional title at the weekend, beating Ilja Mezencev to claim the WBO inter-continental belt, and ever since stepping into the ring as a 10-year-old, Itauma’s shown what a level above he’s been.

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Itauma never lost an amateur on the way to European and World Youth titles and is now 9-0 in the professional ranks. Tyson Fury and David Haye have both backed the Chatham heavyweight to become a world champion.

He’s now been guided by high-profile trainer Ben Davison but it all started at St Mary’s in Chatham, under the tutelage of their coaches, including Jerome Xavier.

Prior to becoming a professional, Moses fought as Enriko Itauma and his former coach Xavier has described what he was like when he first stepped into the Chatham gym.

“Emotionless” was how the 10-year-old came across to Xavier when they first met, having come to training along with his older broker Karol.

But once inside the ring things changed, as Xavier explained, speaking this week prior to Itauma’s win over Mezencev in Saudi Arabia.

He said: “You never knew if he was happy or sad, he didn’t give too much away. I didn’t know if he was just doing it because of his brother. He didn’t seem too bothered.

“We took him to a gym show in Hastings and he got matched up with someone the same age and similar weight. I was in his corner. He was tall and lean and his opponent was not so lean, a lot shorter.

“It was a chance to see if he really wanted it. He was too strong and talented. He came alive in the ring.

“He threw a few jabs and backhands and the other boy started crying. We had to tell him to calm down, there wasn’t meant to be a winner or a loser. They had to call it off and it was a bit of an interesting baptism. From then on he did well.”

Xavier continued to coach him and was in his corner as he rose through the amateur ranks.

“He was very lean for a 10-11 year-old, not muscular, just quite tall,” the coach recalled.

“He had his first bout at the Lordswood Leisure Centre and because he was so tall and heavy there weren’t many other boys around who had not had bouts.

“We knew he was talented so we took a bit of a risk. Someone came down from Leicester who had two bouts and won them both. We thought ‘this is a test’ but there was nobody else around and he was a bit of talent.

“It wasn’t an easy bout. The other boy was mature for his age and put him under pressure but he (Itauma) showed his boxing skills and managed to win. That was the same in his first few bouts, winning on points.

“He won the national schools and shot up in weight and then the power started to come and he started to win more by stoppage.”

Itauma quickly progressed from winning the English schools title in May, 2017. A year later he was European schoolboy champion and took the same title in 2018.

He became English Boxing National junior champion in March 2019 and a few months later claimed the European junior title.

A hectic 2022 saw him win the English Youth Championship title, the European crown and then in November of that year beat Ukrainian Oleksandr Zelenskyi to win gold at the IBA World Youth Championships, eventually turning pro with an amateur record of 22-0.

Seven of his nine wins as a professional have come by way of stoppage, Mezencev the latest to suffer at the hands of the Kent teenager.

Chasing Mike Tyson’s record as being the youngest ever world heavyweight champion has given him a focus and he’s a year left to accomplish that.

Xavier said: “Talent-wise, since he was 13-14 the star quality really started to come through, he never lost an amateur belt, ever. Floyd Mayweather and Muhammad Ali lost in the amateurs but he never did.

“The main person who I could see beating him is himself, if he didn’t stay dedicated. It’s really good to see that he has stayed on that path. A lot of teenagers fall out of love of the sport with the dedication that it takes. He has done really well.

“He has the talent but to beat that record would be rushing it a bit. He has a decent chance, depending on who holds the belts at that time, but if he was to wait a bit longer I would say he has 100% chance of winning a world title. That chance would be slightly less if he goes early in his career, he only has a year to do it.”

His last challenge was a step up in quality – fighting on the undercard of the heayweght blockbuster between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk – but he finished the job inside two rounds.

Xavier said: “I have been coaching boxers in Chatham since 2011 and we have been fortunate to have lots of national champions that I have been involved with, but he is a one-off. His speed, he boxes like a light heavyweight and we liken him to a bit of a Cuban boxer.

“I am sure he will overcome everything put in his way as long as they don’t rush him too much at the top level.”