Moses Itauma’s promoter Frank Warren and sanctioning body WBO are in alignment about the heavyweight contender’s next fight — a world title shot against Fabio Wardley. However, the boxing champion dismissed the bout by saying he wants even bigger things.
It all follows the 21-year-old’s brutal obliteration of the American fighter Jermaine Franklin Jr. on Saturday, March 28, when Itauma further announced himself as a force with his fifth-round finish at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England.
A 6-foot-5 southpaw, Itauma adds the win to prior victories over Dillian Whyte and Mariusz Wach. Itauma was ranked as the WBO’s No.1 contender even before the Franklin win, and the sanctioning body’s president, Gustavo Olivieri said within hours of the bell, “he has further affirmed his standing within the division as a rising star.”
“I will recommend to the championship committee that Itauma be designated as the mandatory challenger in the WBO heavyweight division.”
Oliveira reminded fans in a separate post that the upcoming fight between WBO champion Fabio Wardley and challenger Daniel Dubois, set for May 9 at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester atop a Queensberry Promotions card on DAZN PPV “as a voluntary” defense.
Oliveiri’s stance proves Warren’s recent comments prescient. “I’m pretty confident [Itauma] will fight for the world title this year,” he said after his boxer’s latest win. “Very confident.”
It’s just perhaps not next, he said, indicating Itauma will fight again “probably in July.”
He said: “There’s a lot of fights happening over the next few months, and we’ll talk something out. Don’t worry, it’ll be a big, big fight, because he’s a big, big fighter.”
Fabio Wardley Wants Bigger Things Than Moses Itauma
Speaking to Ring Magazine, Wardley shut down the notion of fighting Itauma anytime soon, ensuring that, if Moses were to challenge for a world title, it would have to be for an alternative belt rather than his.
“There’s two of us and there’s four belts,” Wardley said of the prospect of fighting Itauma, his stablemate at Queensberry, and gym-mate through shared trainer Ben Davison.
“There’s a lot to go around, there’s a lot of fighters in between, and we’re in different places,” Wardley said. “I’m looking up in terms of [Oleksandr] Usyk, [Tyson] Fury, and AJ [Anthony Joshua]. Those type of guys. But Moses is looking for a fight between that, like [Filip] Hrgovic — a fantastic fight for him.”
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