MOSES ITAUMA was stitched up by a boxing MC who blamed him for the cut that delayed Tyson Fury’s huge undisputed decider.
Kent’s 19-year-old heavyweight sensation was in the WBC champ’s Saudi Arabia camp to provide southpaw sparring ahead of a February 17 showdown with WBA, IBF and WBO boss Oleksandr Usyk.
But the 7-0 starlet was long gone by the time Croatian Agron Smakici accidentally did the damage to the Gypsy King which saw the bout pushed back to May 18.
Some social media trolls blamed Itauma but it was a man with a mic who stirred it up.
Ahead of his eighth pro bout against Bradford’s Dan Garber, 38, tonight, Itauma said: “I was getting slated on Instagram but I’d left the camp before it happened and was back training in England.
“I even went to watch my brother Samuel box in Essex and the MC thought it’d be a good idea to introduce me as, ‘A future heavyweight world champion who did the cut on Tyson Fury’s eye that ruined the undisputed fight’.
“I couldn’t believe it and a few people had funny reactions. I’m sure he wasn’t trying to stitch me up but I had already gotten enough grief about the cut.”
Itauma also points out that grainy viral footage of how Fury got the injury clears his name.
He explained with a grin: “You can see in the video the sparring partner has a hairy chest and I definitely don’t have it yet. Agron has the chest rug — not me!”
Itauma used to go to the gyms of Joe Joyce and Lawrence Okolie still in his school uniform — and give them serious rounds.
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And he was thrilled to later get ring time with Brit legend Fury, 35.
Itauma added: “The stuff you learn to really appreciate is advice very few people can give you — and Tyson, his family and team shared that with me, so I’m very grateful.”
Tyson Fury is one of the most colourful personalities in sport, here is all you need to know:
