Promoter ‘very confident’ Moses Itauma will fight for world title in 2026
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Promoter Frank Warren says he’s “very confident” that rising superstar Moses Itauma will fight for a world heavyweight title this year, following Itauma’s vicious fifth round knockout win over Jermaine Franklin today in Manchester.
Warren says that Itauma (14-0, 12 KO) will return in the summer first, and let the big names in the division — including three-body titleholder Oleksandr Usyk — get through their next fights before focusing on something even bigger.
“He’ll be out again probably in July, and we’ll be announcing someone,” Warren said after today’s fight. “We’ll sit down and look at a few things. He’s No. 1 in the WBO, he’s No. 1 in the WBA. There’s a lot of fights happening over the next few months, and we’ll talk something out. Don’t worry, it’ll be a big, big fight, because he’s a big, big fighter.”
Asked if Usyk will need to vacate one of his three titles for Itauma to get a world title shot, Warren looked at the layout and said he was confident that, in some fashion, Itauma will fight for a world title in 2026.
“Usyk’s fighting in Egypt in June. After that fight, he’ll be ordered to defend his WBC title, which (would be) against Agit Kabayel. If he doesn’t do that, he’ll get stripped, and then the next organization will order him to defend his belt. He’s got to defend his mandatories, that’s what they’re there for. I’m pretty confident (Itauma) will fight for the world title this year. Very confident.”
Usyk holds the WBA and IBF titles, in addition to the WBC title. He is taking an optional bout with famed kickboxer Rico Verhoeven in June, which will be at least for the WBC belt.
Itauma’s other obvious option would be the winner of the May 9 fight between WBO titleholder Fabio Wardley and Daniel Dubois. Both men are with Warren’s Queensberry Promotions.
There is a real chance that Usyk, 37, will vacate one or more of his belts, as he looks for the biggest money options for what he expects to be only a few more fights in his career, so we could see Itauma fight someone for a vacated title. There’s also the WBA’s secondary heavyweight title, which promoters and fighters will gladly call a “world title” if and when it suits them. Murat Gassiev currently holds that title.
Is Itauma ready for a world title fight, in your view? Would it depend on which title he fights for, and against whom?
