Speaker 1: Well, it's my pleasure. Welcome to our podcast.
Speaker 2: This week for the first time, it's the heavyweight up
and comer prospect some stay contender. It's Moses Etama. Moses.
I'll tell the folks what's going on. You've got a
pretty big fight come up.
Speaker 1: The biggest of your car.
Speaker 2: I would imagine you're fighting the longtime contender Dyllian White.
Speaker 1: If you guys are gonna headline the.
Speaker 2: Card and read Saudi Arabia on his own pay per
view August sixteenth, Welcome to the show.
Speaker 1: Thank you very much for doing this today.
Speaker 3: Thank you very much. A lot that introduction. I was
literally just saying that, like the American people bring us
different type of energy. Everybody's like excited or whatnot. So
I'm gonna have to visit America one day.
Speaker 2: Well, we'll be happy to have you come here to visit,
maybe even to fight someday. But you mentioned, you know,
you're a young guy making your way up the ranks.
I don't think you have that big of a name
here in America yet. Of course maybe you do so
in the UK compared to here for sure. So for
the folks that aren't that familiar with Moses, Atama. I
certainly am. Tell us just a little bit about how
you sort of got your starting boxing.
Speaker 3: How I started in boxing. So my school, Greeneck Academy,
it was like a sports college, and it happened to
be where like I think that we calculated it, it was
like nine European gold medals, like ten eleven national titles,
a youth Olympic medal, like a world a world medal.
Couple professional boxers have gone have gone to the gone
to my school and my my older brother he had
to be He happened to be in a classroom with
I believe it's two or three other boxes and my
brother Carol. He wanted to get into the into the
talk of the boxing talk. And then he went down
to the boxing gym. He won his first national title
and then he said, bro, you're not doing anything, come
to the boxing gym with me.
Speaker 1: So how old were you at that time?
Speaker 3: Nine years old? I would have turned in ten.
Speaker 2: So ever since you've been on the trail and here
we are now as you get ready for this fight.
Speaker 1: Listen.
Speaker 2: At the end of twenty twenty four, I picked you
as the prospect of the year. I've been taking prospects
of the Year for my publications for twenty five years.
A lot of people in the business picked you as
the prospect of their fans, identified most of the timas
maybe the best prospect in boxing, and I wonder how
did that make you feel? Was it a sense of excitement?
Did you feel pressure to give you confidence.
Speaker 3: I didn't think I was gonna win that because I've
really although he's firing one of my mates, I'll do
really right, abdu La Mason, and I'll do really right
Amelion August. So I didn't think I was going to
win it, but I appreciate it, and I think I'm
thankful to those people that they devote for me. I'm
I'm trying my best with this box in and it's
nice to see that I'm getting recognition.
Speaker 2: Well, certainly the other young guys you mentioned in Abdula
Mason a million of Vargus are you know, in that
same level. So there was certainly a petition. One of
the things about you that's struck me. You know, you're
you're that rare southpaw fighter with punching power. But yeah,
a lot of people were comparing you to Mike Tyson,
not a South pop but obviously made his name at
a very young age. I wonder that that sort of
seemed unfair to me, not just for most of the time,
but to compare any young fighter to Mike Tyson, Well,
what was your when you heard those or read those comparisons?
What did that make you think?
Speaker 3: I may not kind of put on myself. I think
the only comparisons that me and Matt Tousson have is
that he he was killing it when he was twenty,
twenty one, twenty two, and it looks like I'm on
the path to do the same. So I guess that's
the kind of where the comparison has come in. Do
I like hit and no? Wold a lot to change it? Yes,
cannot change it? No, So I'm not going to crab right.
Speaker 2: It seems like you're pretty realistic about it that people
are gonna say you and listen a lot of the
I would think, I mean, not just because you've got
obviously a big punching power, but the comparisons are based
on the age situation. As you mentioned, he was twenty
years old when he became the heavyweight champion. You are
twenty years old presently, obviously very young for the position
that you're in. But does it get tiresome of having
so many people when they talk about you talk about
it and make your age such a big thing.
Speaker 3: Yeah, okay, that was Buck. I'll calm control people's minds.
The only thing that I've got and control is my fias,
and I'm doing that to the best of my ability.
Speaker 2: Well, there are a lot of people that also besides
just again, like I said, unfair comparisons to Iron Mike Tyson.
They say, you know, this is a young man that's
going to follow in the footsteps of the great British
heavyweights Lennox, Lewis, Anthony, Joshua Tyson, Fury. When you hear
that in those comparisons, I mean, those are your countrymen, guys.
I'm sure you watched through the years. How does that
make you feel?
Speaker 3: I don't I don't really know. I don't really know.
I don't feel a certain type of way about it.
When I came into this sport, Yeah, it was kind
of more like I've got introduced. I got introduced to
it with my brother and like it was just something
that I did and it just became a routine and
then I messed around, happened to get kind of good
at it, and then here we are Like It's like,
I think the one thing that I do love about
boxing is that it's well respected. Like when when when
you're walking down the street, every a guy's like, okay, cool,
that's that boxer. Yeah, like let me not do you
what I mean? Whereas like whereas like with other sports,
you might not necessarily have that. So that is kind
of something that kind of flashed into my eyes. But
it was never a thing where it's like I want that,
I want to be that. It was just something that
I've always done and if I don't do it, I
feel like I'm out of pattern. I feel like I'm
out of rhythm. I just I don't feel like I'm
doing my purpose.
Speaker 2: Were there other fighters professionals that you watched as a
as a young man, watching as you were coming up
the ranks, Guys that you emulated that you wanted to
model yourself after.
Speaker 3: No, No, like with the Ben Davison team, we kind
of like Taylor to the opponent. So for example, like
when I boxed Marius Whakia, I was watching a lot
of many Pakio and then even Devas devas Shani. He
was like Moses Talma like was moving like a heavyweight
Mani Pakio, but like I never mentioned many Pakio in
no interviews or nothing, but he knew that I was
trying to emulate what he was doing. And then it
happened to against Dempson McKean. It was sort of the
same thing with Anthony Joshua and Ihanu. They done the
same thing and then the same outcome happened for this fight.
I'm not going to say nothing, but it's not It's
not something where it's like, Okay, cool, I'm gonna box
like this one fire. It's like I'm gonna taylor to
the opponent.
Speaker 2: So, as we mentioned, you're twenty years old and Dylan White,
who's at a long and outstanding career, he is thirty
seven years old, seventeen year age gap. How much of
a difference do you think that plays in the terms
of the matchup between you guys.
Speaker 3: I mean, I'll go abroved that's thirty seven years old,
Jan he wouldn't. I mean, it wouldn't be able to
keep up with me. So I feel that it will
play a facts up. But often he's got that experience
where I don't, So I guess this youth against experience,
and that's why it makes it makes his flight such
a good flat.
Speaker 1: Well.
Speaker 2: Like I said, regardless of his age, he's clearly a
step up for you in terms of the level of
the opponent and what he's accomplished, his experience, the types
of opponents he has faced. He's only got the three losses,
Anthony Joshua. You know ten years ago Alexander Povetkin in
a fight he was winning where he got caught with
a great shot, and Tyson Fury in a world championship fight.
Are there anything when you looked at him or you
think about the way the fighters go, Is there anything
about Dylan White that concerned you?
Speaker 3: Yeah? Man, any heavyweight has the ability to knock out
any other heavyweight, So Dalliant White, it's always gonna pose
a threat more than more so than others. But at
the same time, like I also pose a threat to
Dillian So it's only one way to find out. And
that's true.
Speaker 2: Like he's won since the Fury loss he suffered, he
has won three fights in a row, but he's also
been stopped in the three losses. And you, of course
are known for the big punching power. Is a knockout
on your mind at all, and you think that if
you don't get a knockout that people are gonna put
that even if you win negatively because you didn't get
the knockout and the other bigger name heavyweights.
Speaker 1: Did you know the.
Speaker 3: Reason why people feel pressure and the reason why people
don't perform the way that they're supposed to perform is
because they're too concentrated on the result. Me however, I'm
concentrated on the game plan. I'm concentrated on the fight.
The result is going to be what there what's going
to be? You have no control over that. So am
I do I want to knock out? Yes? Am I
going to look for it?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 3: Do I want it to happen one hundred percent? But
is there is there a possibility that it couldn't It
could not happen and it could go tits up.
Speaker 2: I like that because a lot of fighters won't even
acknowledge that they that they'd like to get a knockout.
Speaker 1: They're just like, whatever happens happens.
Speaker 3: You've got to be realistic. I think in the boxing.
What I love about boxing is you're in constant touch
of reality. Like if I go after this fight. Yeah,
if I go on a mad bender for four weeks
and they say, okay, cool, you're going to be fighting
Alexander Uzik now in ten weeks and I start sparring,
then four weeks that I was on the bend.
Speaker 1: That's the show, right. So like.
Speaker 3: I'm in, I'm in constant touch of reality, which is
which I like, Well.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna get to that. I'm gonna get that usk
and just one quick seck. I won one other question
that because you mentioned just a minute ago about working
with your trainer, Ben Davison, and he's got a ton
of experience with heavyweights. He trained Tyson Fury when he
was champion, He's trained Anthony Joshua. Tell me a little
bit about what it's like working with him, what he
brings to the table, because obviously heavyweights seemed to be
something that he excels at dealing with.
Speaker 3: No, he's he's obviously like a big part of my career.
I did pick very very carefully with when I was
going in the such for a new trainer.
Speaker 1: I think me.
Speaker 3: And Ben was definitely a link up that had to happen.
I don't think my career would have gone the way
it would have gone well.
Speaker 2: Like I said, in terms of Usik, he's the undisputed champion,
and there's been a lot of pundits people have said
written that if Moses Tama wins this fight in decent
style against Dilan White, and he should get the shot
at the undisputed title next that you know, in the
next matchup. Maybe some people might say it's a little
bit too soon, especially because there's other top contenders who
are in position Joseph Parker, a Gikabio, for example, who
have been in mandatory spots and have similarly earned that spot.
What do you think about the folks that say that,
and you feel like you would be ready for that
level of opponent next.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't lose anything out of it.
Speaker 1: I don't.
Speaker 3: I will not lose. I think it's a win win
situation for me. I don't a lot to use the
word deserved, because obviously don't get we deserved to get
we negotiate.
Speaker 1: Good point, and.
Speaker 3: Well, I would have to say that as your park
and as your Tabayel like have charged enough to the
game whereas I haven't. But then yet again, I'm coming
here to negotiating.
Speaker 1: Not to.
Speaker 2: Understood That's a great place to leave it off. I'm
always thank you so much for your time today. I
really appreciate and I wish you were tremendous success in
your fight coming up.
Speaker 1: You know my tele good either, and thank you