Moses Itauma is set to become the mandatory challenger for the WBO heavyweight title – potentially putting him on a collision course with stablemate Fabio Wardley.
Itauma, 21, produced another emphatic result on Saturday night, handing Jermaine Franklin a first stoppage defeat as he recorded a fifth-round victory in Manchester, taking his record to 14-0 with 12 of those wins coming via knockout.
WBO president Gustavo Olivieri wrote on social media platform X that after Itauma “further confirmed his position in the division as a rising star”, the Briton would be “formally recommended” for a shot at the organisation’s heavyweight belt.
Wardley – who shares trainer Ben Davison with Itauma – will defend that championship against Daniel Dubois on May 9, so if he wins it could lead to a “sticky tie”, according to Itauma.
The attendee said before knocking Franklin out: “I think Fabio can [beat Dubois]. Fabio continues to surprise everyone. If you write him off, he ends up smashing Dubois out.
“You don’t really know what to expect from Fabio, but I would probably say that Fabio will win.
“Obviously he’s in the same gym as me, so it would be a sticky predicament. Everything can make sense, it all makes sense.”
Itauma’s record is now 14-0, with 12 wins coming via knockout
At the end of last year, before he was promoted to full WBO champion after Oleksandr Usyk vacated the title, Wardley told Sky Sports on a potential showdown with Itauma: “Who knows how the future will go?
“Right now me and Moses are on our own courses. We both need to get hold of our world titles first before we can even have conversations about crossing swords.
“There’s enough out there for us to try and occupy ourselves before we have to start thinking seriously about getting in the ring at the same time.”
Itauma wants Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury – but expects to be forced to wait
Itauma wants Fury and Usyk – but expects to have to wait
In the build-up to his fight with Franklin, Itauma said Sky Sports he would “love” a crack at Usyk – but that he doesn’t expect that to happen for the time being.
He feels the same about a blockbuster fight with Tyson Fury, who returns to the ring in April to take on Arslanbek Makhmudov at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
“Why would Usyk fight me?” Itauma said. “Obviously he’s got other people on the agenda. Not only that he’s got a whole list of people that I guess are in front of me.
“I don’t think Tyson wants to go [a fight]. I don’t know. For example, he has a big fight with Anthony Joshua, a fight that can still be fierce.
“He knows there’s a lot of other fights he’d probably be able to make more money on and they wouldn’t be as much of a fight. It doesn’t really make sense to him.”
Usyk and Fury might be a ways off, but Dubois or Wardley apparently aren’t.