Itauma, 21, has long been hailed as a future world heavyweight champion and gets his chance to win his first title on August 29 against Filip Hrgovic at London’s O2 Arena.

But as Itauma makes the next step in his career, there are already a number of young British heavyweights likened to the Slovakia-born southpaw.

Adam Olaniyan, 20, the Queensberry hope from Tallaght, Ireland, and Matchroom’s Leo Atang, 19, have been tipped as heavyweight stars of the future.

Itauma (14-0, 12 KOs) believes both, as well as Australian Teremoana Teremoana, are destined for great things, but he reserved special praise for a different heavyweight when asked to name his potential stars of the future.

After many rounds of sparring, Itauma has been most impressed with Nikita Putilov, the 23-year-old from Leipzig, Germany.

Putilov, a European Under-22 champion, won World Boxing’s 2024 World Boxing Cup in Sheffield and has been identified as a potential Olympic medalist in Los Angeles 2028.

“I like Leo Atang. He’s very decent and is a nice kid as well,” Itauma told a media roundtable Friday. “I like Adam Olaniyan,too, the guy who has just signed with Queensberry. I watched his fight the other day and he’s very good as well.

“Obviously Teremoana looks decent, too. That’s probably who I’m looking at from the young guns coming up.

“But there’s one kid though, from Germany, his name is Nikita Putilov who is still an amateur but when he turns pro he will be good.

“I’ve sparred him a few times and every time I’ve sparred him he’s given me very good work.”