Moses Itauma’s rise continues, and if it was up to him and ‘every heavyweight was free’, he would be turbocharging his career.
After becoming the first man to stop Jermaine Franklin, doing so inside five rounds with a highlight-reel uppercut, Itauma said his ideal next fight would be against the durable Filip Hrgovic. That is unlikely to be the case, with Hrgovic booked to fight Dave Allen next month.
Speaking on TalkSPORT in the days following, Itauma then named WBC, WBA and IBF champion Usyk as his ultimate target, but the unified champion will face Rico Verhoeven on May 23 and, perhaps more importantly, has been openly dismissive of facing the Brit. A suggestion of Michael Hunter, made by fellow heavyweight Derek Chisora, now may be one of the leading options.
“In a perfect world I would’ve wanted to fight Hrgovic … If everybody was free, Usyk would be the one because he’s got the belts … Derek Chisora said me against Michael Hunter in America. That makes sense. Me and Michael Hunter in America would be decent. But I honestly don’t know. I’ve got a meeting with Frank Warren to find out my next date.”
Hunter – who lost to Usyk in the cruiserweight ranks before moving up to heavyweight – has been painfully inactive at the top level for some years, constantly teasing that he is targeting big fights but never quite delivering. Itauma would be an extreme test, and may be too high risk for the American without some bigger wins under his belt.
The Hrgovic fight may yet happen, just not next. If the Croatian beats Allen in May, he has said Itauma is one of the names in his contract alongside the likes of Fabio Wardley and Daniel Dubois.
As for Usyk, he appears unwilling to change his stance on Itauma, most recently saying he does not want to ‘break’ the young heavyweight. With his focus on current champions or fighters closer to his age, it looks unlikely the match-up happens.
