A top heavyweight prospect, Leo Atang, now finds himself under added pressure. Moses Itauma turned professional as a teenager and, at 21, has quickly become a world-level contender — a rapid rise that sets a modern benchmark not every heavyweight can or should mirror.
Atang, 19, goes into his sixth professional fight in Liverpool this Saturday, boasting a 100% knockout ratio so far. He stresses, however, that his progression will be his own. “I’m not going to be the next anybody. I’m going to be myself. He’s done his own thing. He’s gone fast and fair play to him. Everyone moves at different rates, different speeds,” Atang told Sky Sports.
He plans to carve his own route to the top of the division — and that will likely include a meeting with Itauma eventually. “Of course, it’ll happen but when the time’s right. There’s no rush for either of us. We can wait and build our names and when the time’s right, it’ll be a massive fight,” he said. “There’s no disrespect or nothing like that. At the end of the day he’s got to do his job, I’ve got to do mine and I’m sure it will happen down the line.”
Atang admits he has felt extra scrutiny because Itauma set an early standard. “I feel like I’ve had it tougher just because he was the only one to do it at the start, so everyone’s always praised him. Whereas me I’ve almost got to do it in his shadow, I’ve got to live up to what he’s done. So I’ve also really had that pressure on the start I feel like,” he said. “It’s a pressure I wouldn’t say I put on myself but it’s almost been forced upon me from outside noise.”
He accepts the need to keep developing and work through the apprenticeship phase this year, but he expects to edge into the championship picture over time. “The world title’s the goal for me,” Atang said. “That’s the plan. I know I’m on the right path at the moment, I know I’m at the right pace as well. When it’s time to let me off the leash, that’s up to the team to let me know.”
Grounded and realistic, Atang says he is not yet calling out big names. “I’m grounded enough to know I’m not where I need to be to be calling out big names,” he continued. “I know I’m far from that. But when it comes to that of course I want to be up there. When it’s time, it’s going to make it a lot more fun to get into some big fights in the heavyweight division.”
Meanwhile, Itauma’s recent highlight — a decisive knockout of Jermaine Franklin — has only increased attention on the young British heavyweights and fuelled debate about who he should face next. For now, Atang is focused on steady progression, letting results and timing dictate when he and Itauma will meet on the big stage.