{"id":431425,"date":"2026-02-18T01:42:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T01:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/431425\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T01:42:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T01:42:09","slug":"itauma-says-wardley-or-dubois-fight-comes-next-if-he-wins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/431425\/","title":{"rendered":"Itauma Says Wardley Or Dubois Fight Comes Next If He Wins"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=boxing247.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" style=\"display:flex; align-items:center; justify-content:center;&#010;            width:140px; height:40px; overflow:hidden;\"><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"660\" height=\"208\" alt=\"Add East Side Boxing as a preferred source on Google\" class=\"perfmatters-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770669047_552_google.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>  <\/a><\/p>\n<p>  <a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqKAgKIiJDQklTRXdnTWFnOEtEV0p2ZUdsdVp6STBOeTVqYjIwb0FBUAE?ceid=US:en&amp;oc=3&amp;hl=en-US&amp;gl=US\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" style=\"display:flex; align-items:center; justify-content:center;&#010;            width:140px; height:40px; overflow:hidden;\"><br \/>\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"468\" height=\"128\" alt=\"Follow East Side Boxing on Google News\" style=\"height:100%; width:auto; display:block;\" class=\"perfmatters-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/follow-google-news.png\"\/><br \/>\n  <\/a> <\/p>\n<p>Itauma believes a path exists to challenge for Wardley\u2019s WBO heavyweight title if both win their upcoming fights. Wardley is scheduled to defend his belt against Dubois on May 9, a result that Itauma says could determine his next target.<\/p>\n<p>Wardley and Dubois define Itauma\u2019s title path<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt all makes sense [fighting Wardley], but obviously, right now, I\u2019ve got Jermaine Franklin, and he\u2019s got Daniel Dubois,\u201d Itauma told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skysports.com\/boxing\/video\/33722\/13508628\/moses-itauma-discusses-possibility-of-world-title-fight\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sky Sports<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>He also acknowledged that a fight with Dubois could emerge depending on how that title bout plays out.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf Daniel Dubois wins, obviously that makes sense. Fabio Wardley is in the same gym as me, so that would be a bit of a predicament, wouldn\u2019t it?\u201d Itauma said. \u201cI\u2019d probably say Fabio wins.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While Itauma sees realistic routes toward Wardley or Dubois, he does not expect undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk to be part of those plans. Usyk currently holds the IBF, WBA, and WBC titles and, at 39, remains focused on established contenders and major events rather than taking on an unproven opponent.<\/p>\n<p>Itauma said he understands why top heavyweights have not rushed to face him yet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve surpassed the British level, and the guys at the world level don\u2019t want to fight me because why would they want to fight a 21-year-old? So, I\u2019m stuck in a little bit of a predicament,\u201d Itauma said.<\/p>\n<p>For Itauma, the Franklin fight is the step that determines whether those bigger opportunities become real. Franklin has gone rounds with experienced contenders and represents a higher level of resistance than the opposition Itauma has faced so far.<\/p>\n<p>Wardley-Dubois will define the next title picture at Queensberry, but Itauma\u2019s position in that queue depends entirely on how he performs in Manchester. Until he proves he can defeat experienced heavyweights, the title fights he is discussing remain future options rather than immediate negotiations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Itauma believes a path exists to challenge for Wardley\u2019s WBO heavyweight title if both win their upcoming fights.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":431426,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-431425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/431426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}