Royston Barney-Smith, also born in 2004, is now four years into his professional career and, like Itauma, has yet to put a foot wrong.

These days, the two southpaws are both trained by Ben Davison in Harlow, Essex, near London, but they first met a decade ago in Birmingham as bright-eyed schoolboys. 



“Me and Moses have been boxing together since we were kids,” Barney-Smith tells The Ring.

“From the age of 12 until we were 16 with England. All the way up until Covid hit in 2020, really. We haven’t changed much since then, really, the same kids with the same dreams.”

They both had ambitions of winning titles and, on Friday, “RBS” will have the chance to bank his first two significant belts when he faces Conor McIntosh for the vacant British and Commonwealth junior lightweight titles in Glasgow, Scotland. The pair will meet on the DAZN show headlined by Nathaniel Collins’ rematch with Cristobal Lorente at OVO Hydro.

With lofty rankings by all four sanctioning bodies, it is unlikely that Itauma will ever see British or Commonwealth belts, but his old friend always had a feeling the heavyweight would be destined for great things.

“I remember when me and Moses first met in Birmingham,” Barney-Smith says. “We were there for a spar-off, with all the national finalists and the winners, so they could select who would represent England.


“Moses was there, and one day I called my dad over and said, ‘Please have a look at the size of this kid.’ He was my age but was like a fully grown man. I remember thinking, ‘Where have you come from?’

“But even back then, right at the start, I knew he would be something special. You could just tell straight away.”

Barney-Smith first linked up with Davison as a 17-year-old, and the trainer has since steered him through the formative stages of his career. Since his debut in 2022, the Southampton man has climbed the ranks through four, six, eight, and 10-rounders with Friday night’s clash his first over 12 threes.

Itauma's progress has been similarly serene, but The Ring’s No. 6-rated heavyweight admitted he fell completely out of love with boxing before linking up with Davison, and therefore Barney-Smith, in early 2024.



“Me and him both started this together back then,” Barney-Smith says. “Now we’re going to finish it together. It’s good to see how far we’ve come from that age until now.”

Following his career-best victory over Danny Quartermaine in October, Barney-Smith crept closer toward the upper echelons of the 130-pound division. He is currently ranked No. 12 by the IBF and No. 10 with the WBO and a victory over McIntosh will only propel him higher.

At just 22, “Sugar Boy Roy” is happy to take his time and tick all requisite boxes on his journey, but thinks world title opportunities could arise in 2027 with two big wins this year.

His self-belief was bolstered by sparring former world featherweight champion Raymond Ford.

“I sparred him before he fought Nick Ball in 2024,” Barney-Smith says of Ford.

“I was even younger then, but we had some good rounds. He was doing a press conference in London and was ringing around trying to arrange sparring, and Ben called me and said, ‘Go and get your stuff right now.’


“We did eight rounds that day, and it all went well. So now the way I look at it is, if I have a good year this year, I’ll be knocking on the door for world titles. Finish off this year strong, I’m there, and I’m ready.”