Fresh off his latest destructive, he-barely-broke-a-sweat KO performance, heavyweight sensation Moses Itauma is looking at what’s next. And everyone knows that as good as he is, the 20 year old British southpaw is in need of a step up in competition. Mike Balogun gave it a shot last night, but Itauma was far too fast, sharp, and accurate for the former linebacker, and he took him out in impressive fashion in round two.
Now, looking ahead, Itauma has named two prominent heavyweights he wants to fight either this year or early next year.
Itauma says he’s ready for Zhang or Hrgovic “end of the year”
Speaking with Box Nation after going to 12-0(10), Itauma said what he needs now is “a fight to go past eight rounds.” After that, Itauma said, he would welcome a fight with either Zhilei Zhang or Filip Hrgovic. Or perhaps Itauma could fight both men.
“After that [a fight that takes me past eight rounds], I welcome those fights,” Itauma said with regards to him fight either Hrgovic or Zhang. “End of the year, beginning of next year.”
Zhang or Hrgovic – who will test the WBO’s No. 1?
I personally would love to see how Itauma would get on with fellow southpaw Zhang. “Big Bang” recently put out a video release in which he said he feels he is far from done and that he wants to fight again before the year is out. Zhang, 27-3-1(22) and now aged 42, spoke about a possible fight with Anthony Joshua, but who knows, if AJ doesn’t fight again or if he does but he picks someone other than Zhang, perhaps Frank Warren can make a fight between Itauma and Zhang happen.
It would be a fascinating fight, and while Itauma would look at the fight as a step up and a chance to test himself, Zhang would perhaps look at this fight as a chance to get himself back up there as far as challenging for a world title. Remember, Itauma is now ranked number one with the WBO (quite shockingly in the opinion of plenty of people, for as good as he is, Itauma has yet to beat an elite heavyweight).
As for Hrgovic, 18-1(14), Itauma recently made it clear that he really wants to fight the man who said some time back that he is “just a kid.”
Can Itauma beat Zhang and Hrgovic this year or early next year?
