Moses Itauma Eyes Oleksandr Usyk Fight

Following his stoppage of Jermaine Franklin last week, 21-year-old Moses Itauma says he is “100 percent down” for a fight against unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.

Itauma’s stock rose when he became the first man to stop Franklin. The WBA has ordered Itauma to challenge for their “Regular” title, currently held by Murat Gassiev. Team Itauma has expressed little interest in traveling to Russia for a secondary belt. If the WBA route fails, the WBO offers a path to a belt.

Itauma is currently the WBO #1 contender, placing him directly in line for the belt currently held by his own gym-mate, Fabio Wardley. Wardley is scheduled to defend that WBO title against Daniel Dubois on May 9. However, as both Wardley and Itauma share the same trainer in Ben Davison, arranging a fight between the two is considered a “last resort.”

This could pave the way for an Usyk fight as an alternative. The Ukrainian, though, has ruled that out previously. His current three-fight retirement plan confirms that with Rico Verhoeven, the winner of Wardley-Dubois and Tyson Fury being his three choices. Regardless of who Moses faces, Warren has made it clear that it has to be a big name.

What’s Next?

“Itauma will be back out in July and he’s got to fight a top 10-ranked fighter, that’s the risk. The governing bodies might order a fight, I don’t know. He’s number one in the WBO and the WBA, so we’ll see what happens there. There are many, many connotations for him. For me, he’s the most exciting fighter in the world at the moment. Most exciting fighter in the world.

“And the maturity and the way he goes about his business, he’s got such a good boxing brain. He’s got such great hand speed, footwork, the whole thing. He’s just a phenomenal fighter. “I want to see the fight [between Fabio Wardley and Daniel Dubois] first; get the fight out of the way. He won’t be fighting the winner of that in July because there won’t be enough time, so we’ll see,” Warren said