'Moses Itauma must go through what I did to prove he's ready for Oleksandr Usyk'
The WBA have ordered that Kubrat Pulev must fight Moses Itauma in a mandatory defence of his belt, but the Bulgarian wants to face Murat Gassiev on December 12 in Dubai instead
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Kubrat Pulev has never been so popular. Murat Gassiev thinks he’s the next in line for the WBA regular heavyweight champion. Mandatory challenger Moses Itauma begs to differ.
You can see why Pulev wants a voluntary defence against Gassiev, he won’t last two rounds with Itauma. Pulev’s people believe they have the right to proceed with a December showdown against the Russian former IBF cruiserweight champion, but the WBA insist he must defend against Itauma.
It’s now up to the WBA to deliver a definitive answer. Pulev is obviously Itauma’s fast track to WBA super champion Oleksandr Usyk. Ideally, he needs to be tested before he enters a ring with Usyk.
As special as he is, all great prospects need to put their hand in the fire at some point to know what is required at elite level. As predicted, Itauma learned zip against Dillian Whyte last time out and won’t gain much against Pulev other than removing one more obstacle to Usyk.
I remember thinking, 'Hells bells this kid is good' when he sparred Daniel Dubois as a teenager. They were only four-round sessions, but he gave Dubois nightmares.
I want to see how Itauma copes in a crisis, because that crisis will come. I was running a 90 per cent knockout rate coming through the ranks but I knew I had to prove myself against a hardened champion to get a shot at the big time.
That test came against Juan Laporte. I have never been hit harder in my life than I was that night. I had to dig deeper than at any point in my career to survive. That victory was the making of me and prepared me to take on and beat WBA featherweight legend Eusebio Pedroza.
I'm sure those around Itauma want to know there are no surprises down the road. He wouldn’t want to find himself in the same shoes as Dubois against Joe Joyce.
Who should Moises Itauma fight next? Have your say in the comments section.
Dubois thought he was going to blow through Joyce in six rounds. He didn’t and when he was taken to the limit in the championship rounds he was too gassed to respond. He couldn’t work it out because he had never been in that deep before.
After Pulev, if it is to be him, I would match Itauma with someone like Martin Bakole or Zhilei Zhang, or even an Agit Kabayel. That would be a brilliant matchup, two undefeated prospects going at it, and in Itauma’s case, learning what championship boxing is all about.
Follow Barry on X at @ClonesCyclone and @mcguigan’s_Gym
