Former boxer Karol Itauma will launch a new Chatham-based health club in September and has backed brother Moses Itauma to bring a world title to their hometown.
The eldest Itauma retired from boxing last year after a heart attack in 2024, but has channelled his focus into setting up private members-only health and performance Club Eight Three in the Medway area, which has been co-founded by younger sibling and undefeated British heavyweight Itauma, who headlines at O2 Arena against Filip Hrgovic next month.
Chatham southpaw Itauma, 21, has gained a reputation as one of the most exciting prospects in the heavyweight division and his stock only increased after a weekend where experienced compatriots Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury failed to impress in warm-up bouts before their ‘Battle of Britain’ scheduled for later in 2026.
Asked if brother Moses Itauma (14-0, 12KOs) can bring a world title to Chatham, Itauma told Press Association: “My brother is a special individual.
“He is someone that has successfully matched God-gifted ability with extreme hard work. I feel like where he is at the moment and the road he is on, it’s just a by-product of his hard work and God-given ability.
“Yeah, I think he will be world champion within a couple fights.”
When 25-year-old Itauma won gold for Great Britain at the 2018 Youth Olympics, a pathway to the top of the sport like his younger brother was mapped out.
However, six months after the 12th win of his career, Itauma suffered a heart attack and even though he would fight one more time during a period of denial, in 2026 he has put his energy into Club Eight Three.
Co-founded alongside his brother, professional boxer Frankie Wood and Ipswich forward Anis Mehmeti, Club Eight Three is located at Chatham Maritime and aims to provide services usually available to elite athletes such as advanced training, recovery therapies and premium hospitality.
“Club Eight Three really drives the whole ecosystem of your health cafe, to your on-site private nurse providing an IV drip or performing a blood test, then cryotherapy or hyperbaric oxygen chambers,” Itauma said.
“All of those key or private services that usually only elite athletes or performers use, are now ready and available for the every-day person that takes that health and wellness journey seriously.
“When we first came to England in 2007, Chatham is where we grew up and progressed in life. I always remember doing the Medway Athletics in one of the local leisure centres and to be able to initiate that first step of our venture into health and wellness in Chatham, it is a full circle moment and the cherry on top.
“We’re giving back to the community that kind of shaped us and moulded us into who we are. It is something personal because all of a sudden we’re creating a service that wasn’t on offer before, that you can’t get locally and in a private community.”
The Itauma brothers have plans to launch a second Club Eight Three in an unspecified location and to create a facility to help children with Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties (EMB).
Itauma said: “It has always been the family trajectory to acquire businesses and go down that route. Club Eight Three is just the beginning.”
