“Let me put this to all of you,” he said. “Who do you think is the hottest young fighter in the world?”

For the record, the Hall-of-Fame promoter did not actually wait for any answers before delivering the verdict himself.

“It’s Moses,” Warren said. “Everybody says that – the American journalists and American public, actually anybody who has seen him. His fights have been on DAZN and shown all around the world. All everybody talks about is Moses.”

Of course, it has been Warren’s job for nearly half a century to hype up any of the fighters on the Queensberry roster. But when it comes to Itauma (14-0, 12 KOs), you sense he really means what he says, and it is easy to see why.

“Everyone talks and talks about him,” Warren added. “Whoever I meet, they want to discuss boxing, and he is always the one they speak about.”

This particular roundtable discussion was arranged by Queensberry Promotions by way of build-up for the August 29 show at London’s 02 Arena, where Itauma will face Filip Hrgovic for the vacant IBF heavyweight belt in a main event DAZN will stream globally. It will be Itauma’s first crack at a world title and could represent the moment he transforms from precocious hotshot to the division’s next dominant force.

At 21, if everything goes according to plan he could be involved in world title fights for the next decade. On the other hand, he might lose to Hrgovic (20-1, 15 KOs) and need to rebuild as a young, dangerous puncher who nobody fancies fighting.

But as of now, Warren is staunch in his opinion that Itauma is boxing’s hottest property.

“The proof is in the pudding,” Warren pointed out. “Our last show in Manchester was the highest grossing event they’ve had for boxing at the Co-op Live Arena and that was only his 14th fight, so he’s already there. The public have taken to him.”

In boxing, whether that’s in Britain or anywhere else, most casual fans, whether they choose to admit it or not, love two things above all else: heavyweights and knockouts. Itauma, with 12 stoppages in 14 fights, and all but one of those coming inside the opening two rounds, ticks both boxes.

Should he beat Hrgovic, the Slovakia-born Kent resident will also become history’s second-youngest world heavyweight champion and the youngest current male champion in the sport.

He would knock 22-year-old Abdullah Mason off that perch with a victory. It was the brilliant Ohioan who I had in mind when I asked Itauma how he felt about Warren’s assessment that he is the hottest young property in the sport right now. Not one for braggadocio, Itauma had no intention of agreeing with his promoter.

“Oh man,” he said after a long pause. “Well, I appreciate the compliment from Frank Warren. It’s hard to ignore Jaron Ennis and Shakur Stevenson, like they’re all still kind of young. I wouldn’t be able to say that I outshine them.”

Perhaps not now, but history tells us that an undisputed world heavyweight champion can outshine everyone else in the sport, and he has long been tipped as one of them. His activity for a 21-year-old contender has not always been high, especially considering he never boxed as a senior amateur.

Just 31 rounds in three years and seven months is low even for heavyweight standards, but it’s not his fault that he tends to get rid of people early. Dillian Whyte, for instance, was brought in to offer him some resistance a year ago this week and was dismissed in just 119 seconds.

But the reality is that a world title belt will likely mean he will only box twice a year, three at a push. Who knows how long he will go on for, but if he sticks at it until he’s 30, that would take him to around 30 professional fights, with most expecting the majority of any future outings to involve world heavyweight title honors.

Those are rookie numbers compared to Britain’s greatest heavyweight Lennox Lewis (41-2-1, 32 KOs). But in this day and age, when Oleksandr Usyk (25-0, 16 KOs) has reigned supreme, it would represent pretty much par for the course.

With that in mind, it’s hard to argue with Warren’s assessment. Is there another fighter you would rather buy stock in right now? Almost certainly not. Hot property indeed.

Warren, like all experienced businessmen, knows there is no such thing as a surefire investment. There will be some degree of risk with every single fighter on the planet, regardless of how good they look at 21.

Women, partying, money, family feuds – history is full of pitfalls for potential superstars. So, how can Warren guard his latest one?

“The easy answer is you can’t,” he said. “Who knows what happens? In boxing and with people, you never know what’s around the corner. When we made this fight with Hrgovic we didn't know it was going to be for the world title. Now that has happened, and who knows what will happen in the future? I just hope that Moses stays as he is, which I believe he will do. He’s a sensible guy and not an excitable fellow. He seems to be really switched on in that department and very, very mature for his age.

“I just hope he continues that way. And if he does, I believe he'll get to where he needs to be. These guys, all of them, they’ve all got their trials and tribulations outside the ring and inside the ring and they all feel they’re the best and they’re young. These are all young guys coming through. So, it’s exciting times. And if anything happens on the way through that causes problems, they’re things that we and the fighters will have to deal with.”

But first, Filip Hrgovic.