20-year-old British boxing heavyweight Moses Itauma proved that all of the hype around him was warranted on August 16, as he defeated Dillian Whyte via first-round TKO in brutal fashion.
The top prospect looked flawless in what was supposed to be the toughest test of his career to this point, as he looked both faster and stronger than his opponent.
While there’s no question that the top players in the heavyweight division already had their eyes on Itauma before he faced Whyte, he’s going to be firmly positioned on their radar at this point, and it will be fascinating to see who he ends up facing next.
Turki Alalshikh already knows who he wants Itauma to match up against next. The Ring magazine reported that he prefers Itauma to match up against undisputed and undefeated heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk for Usyk’s next bout.
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Not every world-class heavyweight is scared of speaking Itauma’s name. Fellow British heavyweight and ex-champion Tyson Fury sent a clear message about Itauma in an August 17 post to his Instagram story.
“I keep getting asked about young Moses Itauma fighting Oleksandr Usyk and fighting other big names. In my opinion — not as someone who does not know boxing — my opinion as someone who has been there and won every single belt, won everything there is to win in boxing, and done very well: Boxing is a young man’s game.
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“Like I told Wladimir Klitschko when he was 37, boxing is a young man’s game and he waits for nobody. So here’s the opinion, you’ve heard it here first: Moses Itauma will wreck all them old men out the division,” Fury added. “Usyk, [Anthony Joshua], [Jarrell] Miller. Whoever there is who’s old, [Zhilei] Zhang, f****** whoever else there is. Luis Ortiz. All these big names of the past.
“And even the world champion now, [who] they took my belts and given them to, Usyk. Moses will wreck him,” Fury concluded.
🚨 Tyson Fury says Moses Itauma will “wreck” Oleksandr Usyk and all of the older heavyweights. pic.twitter.com/de8S8H1Cyl
— Source of Boxing (@Sourceofboxing) August 17, 2025
Of course, Fury has an axe to grind with Usyk, as he defeated him twice (the only two losses in Fury’s professional career) back in 2024.
Therefore, while Fury has made it clear that he wants to face Usyk one final time before he retires, perhaps he’ll be content with Itauma facing Usyk next and being able to settle Fury’s score for him against the Ukrainian champion.
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