Moses Itauma knows he must bide his time for Oleksandr Usyk fight

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