COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS TO A HEAVYWEIGHT THRILLER

A GENUINE THRILLER is on the cards at The o2 on Saturday when Moses Itauma and Filip Hrgovic go into battle for the IBF world heavyweight title.

It is a match-up that just captures the imagination because there are so many unknowns going into the fight. Little did we know when we first made the fight that we would end up getting the delicious topping of it becoming a world title affair, but it is certainly worthy of the billing.

The best London venue will be packed to the rafters to see snippets of history being made and hoping for the remarkable feat of a 21-year-old Brit becoming heavyweight world champion. He would become the youngest fighter from Blighty to do so, emulating Herbie Hide and then Anthony Joshua.

Moses is fighting for the world title in just his 15th fight and, if his arm is raised, he will come in second for winning one in the fewest fights. The record is held by Leon Spinks, who famously defeated Muhammad Ali as a massive underdog in 1978.

Spinks was 24-year-old and also came into the fight as an Olympic gold medalist from the Montreal Games, so he wasn’t short on pedigree.

Behind Spinks currently is Vitali Klitschko, who won the WBO title in his 25th fight with a stoppage of Herbie Hide in 1999. AJ is the fastest Brit at the moment with his defeat of Charles Martin coming in his 16th fight at the age of 26.

Of course, the stat most people have focused on all along, including Moses at first, was Mike Tyson becoming world champion at the age of just over 20. Moses will be 21, 8 months and 1 day on Saturday, which is still pretty good going and would slot him in second place.

Filip has got other ideas. He would become the first heavyweight world champion to emerge from Croatia and he is convinced he will be. He has got a steely confidence about him and he can’t see what all the fuss is about when it comes to Moses, who he is calling ‘the kid’.

Filip possesses a deep pedigree himself, is an Olympic medalist and has only taken the one defeat as a pro to Daniel Dubois when he was ravaged by cuts.

There is no doubt about it, he is a bloody good heavyweight and many people were tipping him to become a future world champion when he was coming through.

He is tough, seems to have a good chin and is a solid puncher. I just believe the speed and timing of Moses will prove decisive.

But we just can’t know for sure and that is what makes this fight so special. Whichever man prevails will become a formidable world champion and will deservedly take his place in the history books of the sport.