Thankfully for heavyweight boxing, we have something of an antidote to look forward to this weekend.

Away from the back-and-forth, Youtube sniping and the contractual addendums, Moses Itauma and Filip Hrgovic will fight for the vacant IBF heavyweight title in London on Saturday in a reminder of what this division is really about.

Neither man cares much for talking and you would never catch them waxing lyrical about each other on Instagram live during a cross trainer session. Instead they will have a good, old fashioned fight to see who is best.

Itauma has been hailed as the man to keep the lights on for British boxing in the post Joshua-Fury era, which right now looks short of any other real crossover stars. Yes there are a handful of big names and excellent fighters in this country set to shine over the next 5-10 years but we are lacking in potential household names.

Itauma could be that, and has shown glimpses of the potential during his rapid ascent to the top of the division. It seems fitting that his first world heavyweight title attempt will be for the IBF title at 02 Arena, just like Joshua’s was 10 years ago.

But the difference in profile between them at that point is significant given that Joshua had risen to prominence on terrestrial television by becoming Olympic super-heavyweight champion in London.

Gold medals go down very well with the sporting public over here anyway, but for him to achieve it on home soil propelled him into a different stratosphere commercially.

Itauma, of course, never had that. In fact, he never even boxed an adult before he turned professional on his 18th birthday in December 2022. The buzz around him has been growing steadily throughout his 14 fights to date and his clash with Hrgovic will do decent numbers on DAZN.

But let’s not forget that Joshua was powered by the Sky Sports machine back in 2016, with casual sports fans, who most likely shelled out for the channel in order to watch Premier League football, able to board the AJ hype train for no extra cost before he crossed over onto PPV.

Itauma’s early career took place on TNT Sports, with whom Warren and Queensberry had an exclusive deal at the time. He is now one of the jewels in the crown for DAZN. You can understand why all involved would want Saturday night’s clash to take place on pay-per-view, but you can’t help feel that Itauma’s profile would receive a hefty boost if he became world heavyweight champion on regular DAZN programming.

Itauma, by the way, cares little for fame. During a holiday to Sweden earlier this year, he was certain he would be able to go about his business without any interruption from strangers. However, during his very first trip outside the hotel, he was accosted for a number of photographs.

Perhaps he is on his way to becoming as big as Joshua and Fury then. Maybe one day he will do what neither of them have ever done by becoming Britain’s first undisputed world heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis.

What Joshua did in the 10 years following his victory over Charles Martin on the banks of the Thames transformed the sport in the country, there can be no denying that. Many would argue that the Londoner is the biggest star in British boxing history, regardless of what happens with Fury between now and the end of the year.

But at just 21 years old, five years younger than Joshua was in 2016, Itauma has time on his side in his bid to eclipse all of that.

A week before Itauma’s chance to become Britain’s next world heavyweight champion, and only a few miles east of the 02, his female equivalent continued to shine at the Copper Box.

The 20-year-old featherweight Tiah Mai Ayton (7-0, 6 KOs) claimed the first title of her career when she violently forced the capable, once-beaten Ellie Hellewell into a sixth-round retirement to become Commonwealth champion.

British boxing has never seen a female fighter like this one from Bristol, given her age and ability to finish fights early in a women’s game which has been short of knockouts.

Katie Taylor described Ayton as the future and suggested that she can become the greatest female fighter of all time last year. That is just about the highest praise possible and Taylor wouldn’t say it if she didn’t mean it.

While Itauma attempts to match the likes of Joshua and Fury in commercial appeal, “Star Girl” Ayton could set new standards for women’s boxing altogether over the next decade.