On August 3, 2024, with just 56 rounds under his belt, Anderson stepped up to face Martin Bakole in his 18th professional fight.

Just 24 at the time, Anderson was labeled the next big thing for American heavyweight boxing but stumbled out of the gate, getting dropped in the opening round and twice more in the fifth before the fight was stopped in that round.

The 21-year-old Itauma came into last weekend's fight against Filip Hrgovic for the vacant IBF title with just 31 rounds of pro experience under his belt and having never boxed past the sixth round.

Itauma's lack of conditioning reared its ugly head when he gassed out in the ninth round of a fight he was dominating and succumbed to the fit-and-ready Croatian.

"Itauma probably didn't come prepared. He might not have been fully focused," Anderson told The Ring. "He's young, and they were already putting the world in his hands. And when it comes to the fight, it happens ... it's boxing in the heavyweight division.

"As soon as the fight was over, I knew that everybody would be blowing up my phone asking me about my thoughts, I swear. I'm not one to talk down on a man's career or wish that on him, but in a broader sense, I definitely could see it happening. I was still surprised, though, by how it all went down."

The narrative in the immediate aftermath was that Itauma took on too much, too soon, just like Anderson against Bakole, and Richard Torrez did against Frank Sanchez in May, when the U.S. Olympian was starched in two rounds.

"I had so many trolls after me when I lost to Bakole, and what I'd tell Itauma is don't listen to any of the doubters and naysayers," Anderson said. "You're young, and still exactly what people said you can be. The world can be in your hands, just need to focus and lock in. We all need humbling experiences in life to get back on track.

"I don't think experience played a factor in my fight against Bakole. Honestly, I believe it was just the outside stuff going on and me not being able to properly prepare for the fight. I was still executing my game plan, but the biggest thing I didn't do was move my head. I guess you could call that inexperience. You take away something from every fight, go back to the drawing board and try to correct your mistakes."

Anderson (18-1, 15 KOs), who turns 27 in November, has fought only once since the Bakole fight and was supposed to return to the ring in May against Solomon Dacres, but he suffered a biceps injury in April. Anderson said he has recovered already and ready to make his next ring walk before year's end.

Anderson envisions Itauma and himself rebuilding their careers in parallel lanes before colliding down the road.

"We can be like three fights away from facing each other," Anderson said. "They already had us on a path to fighting each other, and we were being lined up behind the scenes. We can still build up to it, I definitely see us crossing paths and bumping heads in the near future."