Unbeaten light heavyweight prospect, Karol Itauma says it was a “surreal” experience to fight on the undercard of Tyson Fury’s showdown with Dillian Whyte at Wembley Stadium in April.
Itauma (7-0, 5 KOs) secured a second round stoppage over Michal Ciach prior to Fury stopping Whyte in six rounds to retain his WBC heavyweight world title in front of a record 94,000 fans.
Ahead of his eighth professional fight on Saturday at the Copper Box Arena, the 21-year-old says he looks back on the experience with great pride.
“Fight week for that was huge,” Itauma told proboxing-fans.com on Tuesday.
“Obviously I’ve never been to Wembley before.
“To have boxed there that time and to have witnessed everything was a blessing and I’m grateful for the opportunities that I’ve got.
“It was just another fight, another step in the right direction.
“I didn’t really soak everything up I guess, I was just focusing on my performance and focusing on the task in hand, but it’s all good.
“The only thing that comes to mind is wow.
“Obviously when I came out it wasn’t packed, however there was a lot of people there.
“It was surreal.”
Itauma, who has been sparring with cruiserweight contender, Richard Riakporhe in preparation for his return, excelled as an amateur winning eight national titles and a Youth Olympic gold medal in 2018.
The Kent man faces Michal Gazdik on the undercard of Hamzah Sheeraz’s clash with Francisco Torres, live on BT Sport and has revealed that he is likely to have one more fight after Saturday, before targeting titles in 2023.
“God willing everything goes to plan and we get a good performance in,” Itauma added.
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“We’ll have one more fight this year and then look at titles this year.
“I’m not too sure [which titles], but I know my manager has it all in mind already.”
Watch the full interview with Karol Itauma below:
