Moses Itauma will face former NFL linebacker Mike Balogun on the Josh Taylor vs Ekow Essuman undercard.
The heavyweight prospect has turned heads with a perfect 11-0 start to his professional career and will look to extend his winning streak at the OVO Hydro Arena in Glasgow on May 24.
GETTYItauma is fighting former NFL linebacker Balogun[/caption]
Last time out, he flattened Australian Demsey McKean inside a round on the Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury II undercard last December.
Boxing fans were hoping to see him step up another level after laying waste to the fringe contender.
However, he has been matched up with an unknown quantity in the form of Balogun.
The 6ft 1in southpaw boasts a 21-1 record with the sole blemish of his career coming against former cruiserweight world champion Murat Gassiev, who knocked him out in two rounds in March 2023.
His most notable win is a first-round blowout of Trey Lippe Morrison in 2021, the son of former WBO heavyweight champion Tommy Morrison.
Before turning over as a professional boxer in 2014, Balogun had a decent American football career.
He played college football for the Oklahoma Sooners and was signed as an undrafted free agent by the San Francisco 49ers in 2010.
Balogun made the practice squad but never managed to break into the 53-man roster.
After bouncing around as an offseason member for the Washington Commanders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he eventually made his NFL debut in 2011 for the Buffalo Bills.
Balogun ended his career in 2012 in the United Football League (UFL) with the Virginia Destroyers and subsequently transitioned to boxing.
GettyBalogun appeared for the Buffalo Bills in the NFL[/caption]
His upcoming fight with Itauma officially ends all hopes of the starlet breaking Mike Tyson‘s record as the youngest heavyweight world champion of all time.
The 20-year-old Brit made it his goal to take the record from Tyson when he made his pro debut at 18, but his 12th fight will fall just after the deadline.
Tyson snatched the WBC heavyweight title from Trevor Berbick in November 1986 at the age of 20 years, four months and 22 days old.
Itauma had until May 19 to better the feat, but his fight with Balogun now makes it an impossibility.
The record was realistically never anything more than a pipe dream, given the way that the heavyweight division is placed at present.
Daniel Dubois holds the IBF title, while Oleksandr Usyk is in possession of the WBA, WBC and WBO straps.
They are expected to duke it out for undisputed supremacy later this year, pending a vote from the WBO Championship Committee.
After which, Joseph Parker is poised to fight the winner.
