Matchmaking for Moses Itauma is proving something of a headache for his promoter, Frank Warren.
Itauma has made a huge inapt in the sport since debuting. He is still just 20 years old but has already got the whole world talking with a string of impressive performances. All 13 of his fights so far have been straightforward wins, with 11 of them coming inside the distance, and nine of them in the first two rounds.
He improved on even that record last time out when he took less than two minutes to stop former world title challenger and the notoriously tough and durable Dillian Whyte.
In the ring after, Itauma announced he was ready for Oleksandr Usyk and though the two-time undisputed champion has himself said he would fight Itauma, his team has rightly put the brakes on that, at least for now.
Instead, rumour has it that both former IBF belt holder Daniel Dubois and title challenger Filip Hrgovic have ruled themselves out of a fight with the British-Slovenian rising star.
According to The Ring’s Mike Coppinger, the two names now being looked into are Michael Hunter and David Adeleye.
Hunter’s best win came over Martin Bakole many years ago, and last time out in December, he stopped Christian Larrondo Garcia in round five, while Adeleye took on Hrgovic back in the summer and lost by unanimous decision.
Itauma is The Ring’s ninth-ranked heavyweight, is number one with both the WBA and WBO, fourth with the WBC and fifth with the IBF. It was reported yesterday by Sky Sports that his team had chosen not to engage with an eliminator against Frank Sanchez for the number one spot.
