Several fight options are emerging for Nigerian-born heavyweight sensation, Moses Itauma, with three-belt champion, Oleksandr Usyk top of the roll call of fearsome fighters waiting to block the youngster’s surge to the top.
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Sports247 gathered that the list of heavyweights Itauma will have to contend with on his way to a world boxing belt also includes less popular names like Filip Hrgovic of Croatia and Nigerian-born struggler, David Adeleye.
Also named on the roll call of potential opponents for the 21-year-old Itauma are the British duo of Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley, who settle their own scores on May 9th, as well as Jared Anderson and Solomon Dacres, who fight on the same night.
However, despite talk about Itauma ultimately facing Usyk, the World Boxing Council (WBC), World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) champ boasted that the Nigerian-born lad is too young for him to fight.
Unfortunately for Usyk, who had to vacate his World Boxing Organisation (WBO) belt after opting out of facing Wardley, he may soon be under immense pressure to fight Itauma or lose his WBA title for avoiding another mandatory bout.
Itauma’s promoter, Frank Warren believes his lad is ready to tango Usyk, who has opted to face kickboxer Rico Verhoeven in Egypt on May 23rd, but could be forced into a fast-paced confrontation with boxing’s newest rave of the moment.
Warren said: “Do you not think we’d sell Wembley out with Moses and five or six times over? Right this minute. And the pay-per-view, the viewing figures would go through the roof.”
This comes after the British Young Boxer of The Year 2025 raked in huge figures on Saturday from his victory over Franklin, who was floored with a sensational left uppercut in round five and had to fight for consciousness after falling face first.
The victory took Itauma up to 14 straight wins and 12 knock-out victories as a professional, without any defeat, while analysts continue hailing the 21-year-old heavyweight prodigy for dominating the night in Manchester.
According to CompuBox stats, Itauma finished the fight having landed 87 punches from his 275 thrown with accuracy of 32 per cent, while 32-year-old Franklin got just 26 of the 144 fists he threw with accuracy of just 18 per cent.
Itauma, who went beyond the second round for the first time in ten fights, retorted afterwards: “I’m happy to get the win. I’ve enjoyed my stay in Manchester, this is actually where I won my first national title.
“I’ve got to thank Franklin for giving me this opportunity, it takes two to tango. I appreciate it. I don’t know what to say, the lord is good. I tried to knock him out in the first or second round, but maybe not today.
“So I went back to the basics, and the knockout just came. When I first turned professional, I thought I would win titles but I didn’t think it would be so soon.”
