{"id":548415,"date":"2026-04-24T14:32:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T14:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/548415\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T14:32:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T14:32:08","slug":"former-heavyweight-champion-admits-hes-not-ready-to-face-moses-itauma-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/548415\/","title":{"rendered":"Former heavyweight champion admits he’s not ready to face Moses Itauma yet"},"content":{"rendered":"

Moses Itauma<\/a> seems to have a new fight date set as he continues his surge towards the heavyweight throne, and talk not turns to who will step through the ropes with him.<\/p>\n

Itauma has not fought beyond six rounds in his 14-fight professional career, but now finds himself on the cusp of a shot at the coveted heavyweight crown, which may take place before the end of the year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It has been reported that the 21-year-old will headline the O2 Arena in London on Saturday, July 25<\/a>, in a bout that will ideally be another step-up in comptetition.<\/p>\n

Promoter Frank Warren has not had an east time matching the young talent, saying that many heavyweights have either flat-out turned down the fight or priced themselves out. Itauma\u2019s future depends on strategic matchmaking, increasing his exposure and bringing in opponents who can bring out new aspects to his game. There have been plenty of suggestions as to good candidates, with Andy Ruiz Jr being mentioned as a durable and experienced operator by the likes of Tony Bellew.<\/p>\n

However, when asked whether he would be willing to compete in the opposing corner, the former unified heavyweight ruler who shocked the world by beating Anthony Joshua in 2019 told Casino.org<\/a> that he would want at least two fights to shake off the ring rust.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, I don\u2019t back down from any fight, but I want to be ready to fight. I want to get at least two fights in first. Then if they put me with him, I\u2019ll be ready and it will be a great fight.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you combine a Mexican fighting style that\u2019s about going forward and not being scared of getting hit, with his style, then I think it will make for an interesting fight. So we\u2019ll see if he has it or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I\u2019m at 100%, and I\u2019m in shape, I don\u2019t think there\u2019s anyone that could beat me. I think me and Itauma would go at it though. I feel like I could beat these guys (AJ & Itauma).<\/p>\n

\u201cPlus, I\u2019ve been like Patrick Star, just chilling under the rock while everybody is getting beat up, having losses and this and that. So I\u2019m gonna come in fresh and I\u2019m gonna come in differently than before.\u201d<\/p>\n

The search continues for Itauma\u2019s next foe, for what will be his first headline slot in London.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Moses Itauma seems to have a new fight date set as he continues his surge towards the heavyweight…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":506287,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-548415","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\/548415","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=548415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548415\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/506287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}