Manager Francis Warren has revealed that Moses Itauma (12-0, 10 KOs) will be back out once again on the historic Oleksandr Usyk vs Daniel Dubois 2 card at Wembley Stadium, England on Saturday, July 19.
The Slovakian-born British heavyweight is widely regarded as the future of the heavyweight division, and he added more fuel to the fire last weekend, on May 24, when he destroyed American Mike Balogun within just two rounds in Scotland.
The 20-year-old from Chatham, Kent took the former NFL star apart in quick fashion, scoring multiple knockdowns with such speed and precision that the 41-year-old American had to be saved just 41 seconds into round two. All of Itauma’s 10 knockouts have come within rounds one and two.
So, naturally, all eyes are fixed upon the southpaw phenom and who his next opponent will be.
The son of Hall of Fame promoter Frank Warren, Francis, has already named two potential candidates for his heavyweight protégé.
First on his hitlist is Sweden’s Otto Wallin (27-3, 15 KOs).
Now 34, Wallin is most famous for giving Tyson Fury a real scare back in 2019 as ‘The Gypsy King’ was forced to fight through an horrendous cut to secure a decision victory, which later required 47 stitches and plastic surgery.
The Swedish southpaw has since been stopped by Anthony Joshua in a one-sided beatdown in 2023, then he dropped a unanimous decision to veteran Dereck Chisora in his last fight in February.
Francis revealed to BoxNation, “I think Otto Wallin would be a great fight for him next. I think Otto’s proven himself to be a very durable, tough opponent who garners respect from the boxing community because of the work he’s done against Tyson [Fury] and Anthony [Joshua], and gave Dereck [Chisora] a great fight.
“And I think for Moses, who wants to get rounds in, that’s probably a great shout.”
There is also another opponent on Warren’s mind, the durable American Jermaine Franklin (23-2, 15 KOs).
The “989 Assassin” from Saginaw, Michigan has also impressed in the UK against some top names – losing on points to both Dillian Whyte in 2022, then Joshua in 2023.
Warren continued, “Jermaine Franklin is another one that I particularly like the look of. But then by the end of the year we’re gonna be looking to step it up considerably, I think.”
Itauma is currently ranked WBO #1, WBA #3, IBF #7.
“If we get number one with the WBO… he’s number 3 with the WBA, so we’re sitting pretty within two of the organisations and I think it’s up to us and we wanna pull the trigger and put our hands up to move, move onto that next stage.”
Warren added, “Fact of matter is it’s all about him being in a position to feel comfortable and everything has to be considered in terms of development – is it right for the training team? Is it right commercially? Is it right for the promoter? But most importantly, is it right for Moses? Does he wanna pull the trigger at 20? 21? 22?
“To go to that next level. It’s down to him. If he feels comfortable in what he wants to do. Cos I know that all these governing bodies want him on board now. So if we made a call and said ‘Right, we wanna fight someone in the top 10’ and that, that would act as an eliminator. Pretty sure we would be able to do that.”
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