Itauma’s swift rise through the ranks risks setting the bar exceptionally high for every young heavyweight who follows him.

Leo Atang (5-0, 5 KOs) isn’t allowing himself to get carried away by his own rapid progress. Although the 19-year-old from York has made just as spectacular a start to his own professional career as Itauma did, he isn’t accelerating his timeline to keep pace with his British rival.

Atang has quickly grasped that there are no shortcuts to the top of the heavyweight division and is refusing to set himself targets or deadlines.

“No, and I'm not I'm not deluded enough to even think into that. Obviously, that would be sick and I'd love to be world champion in 15 fights, but I'm not stupid because I know there's a lot more to it,” he said during an interview on talkSPORT.

“What I've done in there [the ring], a lot of people are like, 'Wow' because I've put them out in a round and stuff like that but that's what you're supposed to do and boxing is not as easy as that. It gets a lot harder. I know that. I understand that you do your learning in your hard spars in the gym.

“Out there [in the ring], really it's kind of just to showcase it. Whereas it as it goes on, the levels will step up in opponents so when that time's right, that's when I'll know whereabouts and how far off I am.”

Atang’s willingness to bide his time outside of the ring is matched by his attitude once the first bell rings.

Although he is steadily filling into his 6-foot-5 frame, Atang has got rid of his first five professional opponents with fast hands and combination punching rather than heavy, thudding single shots.

It takes much more planning and precision to pick a lock than it does to batter down a door, and Atang is learning the importance of setting up his man from the very early stages of his career.

"I'll probably say patience,” he said when asked what he still needs to work on.

“I have shown times where I can be patient, but I think I'd say my last fight was my probably my worst performance, yet it was my fastest stoppage.

“I think that's because I feel like I just went in there and almost forced it. Whereas other times where I've had my best performances, it’s like, 'Right, I'm going to go the distance with this person' and then I've ended up putting on the best performances because I've been patient and relaxed and it's just it's come naturally instead of forcing it.”