Moses Itauma insisted Oleksandr Usyk has “earned the right to do whatever he wants” despite the Briton amplifying calls for a fight between the pair with a stunning stoppage of Jermaine Franklin.
Unified world heavyweight champion Usyk, as well as Tyson Fury, have in the past few months dismissed the prospect of taking on 21-year-old Itauma, citing his age and inexperience as a primary reason.
Itauma, though, stopped Franklin for the first time in his 27-fight career, something Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte could not do, to move to 14-0 and underline his status as an emerging contender.
Asked whether taking out Franklin midway through the fifth round in a dominant performance in Manchester might be the catalyst to lure Usyk into a showdown sometime in the future, Itauma offered a pragmatic response.
“Listen, Usyk has earned the right to do whatever he wants,” Itauma said. “There’s a pecking order that obviously I’ve got to respect.
“I don’t pay attention to any of that, I don’t really care what any of these other heavyweights think or feel. I know what the truth is and I know the ability that I’m capable of. Now I’ve got to go out there and show it.
“I’ve just turned 21, I’ve got Dillian Whyte, Demsey McKean, now Jermaine Franklin — knockouts, by the way — under my belt. I always knew I could do this but I didn’t think it would be so soon.
Re: WBO Heavyweight Division
In light of Moses Itauma’s current position as the #1 WBO world-rated contender, and having defeated world-rated contender Jermaine Franklin by knockout in defense of his WBO Inter-Continental Heavyweight Championship, he has further affirmed his…
— Gustavo Olivieri, Esq. (@OlivieriLaw) March 28, 2026
“I’ve done what some other British heavyweights
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Anthony Joshua
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