Last night Moses Itauma became the first man to stop Jermaine Franklin in a statement victory.
Attention now turns to Itauma’s next fight following his win over Franklin.
Prior to the fight, ‘989 Assassin’ was expected to be the toughest test of the 21-year-old’s career.
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Despite stopping Franklin with relative ease, Itauma did get a few rounds in the bank. The stoppage came in the fifth round, and that was Itauma’s longest fight since 2023, when he went six rounds against Kostiantyn Dovbyshchenko.
Following the win, Itauma was asked if any fight interested him, and the opponent he named is tied up with another bout against Doncaster’s Dave Allen.
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“I wanted the Hrgovic fight, but he is boxing Dave Allen, so we will see.”
Promoter Frank Warren spoke on the coming months for the 21-year-old, and he is confident his man will claim world honours before the close of 2026.
“He fought a tough fighter, broke him down and did what nobody else has done.
“Usyk’s fight is in June; after that, he will defend his WBC title against Agit Kabayel. If he doesn’t do that, he will get stripped.
“I am very confident he will fight for a world title this year.”
Despite neither Warren nor Itauma explicitly naming who could be next, here are three potential names for the heavyweight talent’s next fight.
Agit Kabayel
The German star sits comfortably with the WBC, as he is Oleksandr Usyk’s number one mandatory, and Mauricio Sulaiman has confirmed that once Usyk’s upcoming fight against kickboxer Rico Verhoeven concludes, Kabayel should get his shot.
This makes a potential fight with Itauma unlikely, as you would expect the 33-year-old to wait for the opportunity he has had to be so patient for.
A fight in between is not out of the picture, however, with something very similar happening in October last year, when Joseph Parker, who was Usyk’s number one challenger, put his position with the WBO on the line against Fabio Wardley.
Parker lost that fight, and Wardley became full world champion just weeks after, so Kabayel may be deterred from taking such a risk.
Kabayel spoke to Inside The Ring in January and showed great admiration for the up-and-coming heavyweight star.
“He is young, he is good, you know he is fresh, but I think all styles make fights.
“When this fight comes, Kabayel vs Itauma, why not? For the fans it is good.
“I am ready for everyone, you know I say this. Why not [fighting Itauma]? When His Excellency makes this happen, why not? I will fight everyone.”
Murat Gassiev
Possibly the most likely opponent for Itauma’s next fight could be Russian heavyweight Murat Gassiev.
The 32-year-old was last in action in Dubai, where he brutally stopped the seasoned Kubrat Pulev.
Gassiev has fought some great fighters, especially at cruiserweight, where he beat Yuniel Dorticos and took Oleksandr Usyk the distance.
He spoke to Pro Boxing Fans about a possible fight with Moses Itauma.
“I don’t know a lot about him; he is a young fighter and very talented.
“He is fast, strong, and I don’t know — I cannot see the future, and we will have to see what happens after the Franklin fight.”
Gassiev picked up the WBA ‘Regular’ heavyweight title in his last fight, and considering Itauma is ranked first with the governing body, a win over Gassiev would only bolster the 21-year-old’s hopes of a world title shot.
Fabio Wardley
Possibly the most interesting, yet unlikely, next fight for Itauma would be WBO world champion Fabio Wardley.
Wardley and Itauma train in the same gym under Ben Davison, and talk of a fight between the two continues to crop up in conversation.
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Both fighters have claimed a fight any time soon is unlikely; yet, with Itauma aiming to become a world champion and his stablemate holding one of those belts, a fight is definitely not impossible.
Usyk holds the other three belts and has a mandatory against Agit Kabayel, so Itauma may struggle to land a fight for the WBA, IBF, or WBC titles any time soon.
Wardley spoke on DAZN immediately after the 21-year-old stopped Franklin and reiterated that a fight is unlikely.
“We are in different places; he is looking towards where I am, and I am looking at Oleksandr Usyk, Tyson Fury, and Anthony Joshua.”
There are a few more options for the 21-year-old include Martin Bakole or Zhilei Zhang so who Itauma chooses to fight next will be very interesting.
The post Who’s Next for Moses Itauma? Three fights after Franklin Stoppage appeared first on ProBoxing-Fans.com.