British heavyweight boxing phenom Moses Itauma could be just one fight away from a world heavyweight title shot in 2025 thanks to the sport’s notorious politics.
The 20-year-old sensation from Chatham in Kent will not now break Mike Tyson’s record of becoming the youngest world heavyweight champion ever – but he could be fighting for a belt sooner rather than later.
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Itauma, who mixes devastating power and speed with a remarkable ring IQ for one so young, has fought only 12 times as a professional – winning 10 times inside distance with all of those victories inside the first two rounds.
Itauma moving up in class
Despite that perceived lack of experience at the top level, the clamour for Itauma to be moved up is growing, and he will take on a genuine stepping stone fight on August 16 against Dillian Whyte in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
After that though the young phenom could well be in line for a world title shot, thanks to the latest developments surrounding current heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk.
The 38-year-old Usyk (now 24-0) blasted out Daniel Dubois inside five rounds at Wembley Stadium earlier this month to become undisputed champion for a second time. The big question though is how long he will remain undisputed.
The WBO (World Boxing Organization) this week ordered Usyk to strike a deal within 30 days to defend that belt against tough Kiwi Joseph Parker (36-3). But the all-powerful Saudi power brokers Riyadh Season and Sela say they have “no interest” in making that fight.
Itauma’s world title path
That leaves multiple scenarios where Itauma could step in for a world title shot in the coming months, notably these two:
- Usyk will be stripped of his WBO title if he fails to defend against Parker. That would leave mandatory contender Parker with a clear route to the title – likely against the number 1 contender, who just happens to be Itauma.
- Usyk will be stripped of his WBO title if he fails to defend against Parker, and instead go off to take in the biggest fight around for the biggest money. Until the last few days that had seemed to be a trilogy match vs either Tyson Fury or Anthony Joshua (he has beaten both twice). But in the aftermath of that Wembley rout of Dubois, Riyadh Season chief Turki Alalshikh said THE FIGHT he wants to see is Usyk vs Itauma. And in boxing, more than any other sport, money talks.
As of now Usyk holds all of the belts – the WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO (as well as the Ring magazine strap and the mythical lineal moniker). But the smart money on that not being the case for much longer.
In either of those two aforementioned scenarios where Usyk vs Parker does not happen, Itauma could well be the man to profit most assuming his team feel he is ready.
Get the popcorn ready fight fans, it may well be happening…
