Moses Itauma continues to work towards a world title and could get there later this year.
Itauma is just 22 years old but is one of the hottest prospects in world boxing. He has fought 14 times, and beaten every man he has faced, including 13 of them by KO, nine inside the first round.
In his last two outings, he has stopped former world title challenger Dillian Whyte inside the first round, and then became the first man to halt tough American Jermaine Franklin, doing so in six rounds, which is something both Whyte and Anthony Joshua failed to do when they fought.
Itauma is scheduled to fight again in August. No opponent has yet been named, but Filip Hrgovic remains a frontrunner.
Speaking to Seconds Out, promoter Frank Warren suggested that Itauma could fight for a world title against Agit Kabayel if Usyk doesn’t agree to fight his mandatory.
“Well you’ve got another one, another good fight with one of our fighters is Kabayel. The WBC have said that Usyk has got to defend against him. So we’ve got a 30-day period to try and agree terms or it will go to purse bids. Or if he doesn’t want the fight, Usyk, he will have to vacate.”
Usyk has been weighing up his options following his controversial win against Dutch kickboxer Rico Verhoeven, who put on a much better than expected display when the pair fought back in April. If he decides on a rematch and ignores the WBC mandatory order to face Kabayel, the belt will likely be stripped and the German upgraded to full champion.
Though a first defence against Itauma is one of the tougher assignments in the division, Kabayel says he is open to it.
