Kubrat Pulev Rejects Moses Itauma Mandate, Chooses Surprise WBA Title Defense Opponent

The title fight is currently scheduled for Dec. 12 in Dubai. The rest of the fight card remains unannounced.

The fight announcement comes as a surprise, considering how confident Queensberry Promotions promoter Frank Warren was that Itauma would get the title fight. The initial report claimed that Pulev and Itauma's teams had 30 days to negotiate the fight before it went to purse bids.

Pulev, 44, has not fought since December 2024, when he won the belt with a 12-round decision nod over Mahmoud Charr. The win was his third consecutive after a split decision loss to Derek Chisora in June 2022 and allowed him to cash in on his third world title shot after losing his first two.

Gassiev, 32, is the WBA's No. 12-ranked contender, 11 spots below Itauma, and is not ranked by any other organization. The Russian is the former unified cruiserweight champion, a title he lost to Oleksandr Usyk in 2018. Since then, Gassiev is 6-1 at heavyweight and is currently riding a two-fight knockout streak.

Frank Warren still believes Moses Itauma will fight Kubrat Pulev

Despite the Pulev-Gassiev announcement, Warren has not given up on getting Itauma a world title shot before the year ends. Queensberry Promotions reportedly "still expects" to get Pulev to oblige the mandatory challenge against Itauma, according to Sky Sports.

"Queensberry Promotions was informed in writing by the World Boxing Association that Moses Itauma is the mandatory challenger for its heavyweight world title, which Queensberry has written to the WBA to agree and accept," a spokesperson told Sky Sports.

"The situation has not changed, and Queensberry Promotions fully expects the negotiation process for Moses Itauma to challenge for the WBA heavyweight world title to be conducted in line with the WBA's rules regarding such matters."

Warren has reportedly already booked Itauma to fight on Dec. 13, with his opponent still to be determined. The original plan seemed to be any heavyweight contender, but recent updates suggest that the Slovak might not fight until 2026 if the Pulev fight falls through.