Moses Itauma likely won’t get the chance to force a changing of the guard against Oleksandr Usyk, but the debate continues as to how the heavyweight fight would play out if it did happen.
Usyk recently vacated his three heavyweight world titles, all but confirming that he does not plan to face the current top contenders before retirement. It comes at a time that Itauma had worked himself into number one positions with the WBO and WBA, and number three with both the WBC and IBF.
Speaking to Betpack, Froch said he would ‘love’ to see the fight, particularly as he feels Usyk is on the decline following his stoppage win over Rico Verhoeven last month – a penultimate-round win after a tougher-than-expected outing.
“I don’t know whether Moses Itauma has the experience to beat him, but it would be dead interesting. I’d love to know what happens if today’s version of Usyk faces a young fighter with Itauma’s speed and movement. Usyk can’t be at his physical best now because he’s too old.”
‘The Cobra’ then reflected on the ending to his own career, urging the Ukrainian great to ‘just f***ing retire’.
“I know what it’s like. I was fit and strong at 36. I flattened Groves when I was a month away from my 37th birthday. Then I started training for another fight against Julio César Chávez Jr and I just didn’t fancy it. I couldn’t be arsed. I’d just made £10 million, had young children and a new baby, and I wanted to stay at home. The Groves fights had drained me mentally, and physically I was starting to feel it. Usyk should just f***ing retire.”
Usyk has made it clear that he intends to compete once more, perhaps against fellow former champion Deontay Wilder, before hanging up the gloves.
Itauma, on the other hand, is only at the beginning of his campaign, returning next month in a step up against Filip Hrgovic.
