England-based heavyweight boxer, David Bankole Adeleye has confirmed that he will have a bout with fellow-Nigerian-born fighter, Moses Itauma sometime in the summer, Sports247 reports.
This is sequel to a directive from British Boxing Board of Control (BBB of C), which wants both boxers with Nigerian descent to tussle for the country’s heavyweight belt.
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While attesting his readiness for the bout, Adeleye hinted that it will hold at a venue in Nigeria, as he aims to make up for a planned ‘homecoming fight’ that failed to materialise between them in December.
After failing to make it happen in the past year, Adeleye, who was born on November 16th, 1996 in West London to a Nigerian father and French mother, said he is determined to see the big fight hold in the middle of 2026, with Lagos as the likely venue.
This is sequel to his appearance as a commentator during Friday’s ‘Chaos In The Ring,’ under Balmoral Promotions, and he now wants his family in Nigeria to get a golden chance of watching him box live for the first time.
The pugilist with ancestral origin from Ikole in Ekiti State, who admired Lennox Lewis, Muhammad Ali and Roy Jones Jr, made his professional debut on 21 December 2019, on the undercard of Daniel Dubois against Kyotaro Fujimoto at Copper Box Arena in London.
Adeleye faced Jeamie Tshikeva for the vacant British heavyweight title at the Co-Op Live Arena in Manchester on April 5th, 2025 and won by stoppage in the sixth round.
He vacated the British title in July 2025, then returned to the ring on August 16th, 2025, but lost to Filip Hrgović by unanimous decision in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on the undercard of Moses Itauma vs Dillian Whyte.
Adeleye, who turned professional on July 12th, 2019, is now looking forward to facing Itauma in the roped square before this year runs out, with a view that he can pull off a shock win over the British Best Boxer of The Year 2025.
He told SunSport: “Hopefully, we’ve got a big summer coming. Not even hopefully, we will have a big summer coming and we’ll go from there. It’s always gonna be good to have a homecoming fight.
“You get to fight at home. I’ve got a lot of family over here (in Lagos). I’ve got so many cousins. So, I’ve got to get it done. It will be the first time they get to see me fight in the flesh.”
