Unbeaten heavyweight sensation Moses Itauma was recently given a top-10 ranking by Ring Magazine, and some fans feel this was/is fair enough; others do not. Itauma, after all, has not yet beaten anything approaching an elite heavyweight; his recent quick win over a faded Dillian Whyte was his biggest, most noteworthy win to date.
Top-10 Ranking Questioned
Some fans feel the 20-year-old southpaw needs to beat a Martin Bakole, an Agit Kabayel, a Frank Sanchez, or a Daniel Dubois in order to be deserving of a top-10 ranking.
So, it may come as a surprise to some fans that Itauma is now ranked as the number-one heavyweight contender in two sets of rankings, these being those of the WBO and the WBA.
This, of course, means Itauma is firmly knocking on the door to fight the current unified four-belt heavyweight ruler, Oleksandr Usyk. But how soon will it be when Itauma, 13-0(11) makes his move and challenges for a world title?
Like every other active heavyweight, Itauma is waiting to see what Usyk does next, whether the 38-year-old fights again, whether he opts to vacate one or more of his belts, or if Usyk decides to call it a great career and retire. But the way he’s going, whether it’s against Usyk or it’s against someone else for a vacant belt, Itauma will be fighting for world honours sooner rather than later.
Rethinking the Rankings
Again, world rankings, especially those presented to us by the governing bodies, are quite confusing at times, and no doubt plenty of fans will disagree with Itauma being ranked so highly by the WBA and the WBO. But Itauma is now behind only Joseph Parker, the WBO interim champ, and Fabio Wardley, the current WBA interim champ, as far as being in line to fight Usyk.
Not since Mike Tyson have we seen such a young heavyweight make such rapid progress.