UK Boxing
Who’s next for Moses Itaum? Three fights after Franklin was stopped
Last night, Moses Itauma became the first man to stop Jermaine Franklin in victory.
Attention now turns to Itauma’s next fight following his victory over Franklin.
Before the fight, it was predicted that “989 Assassin” would be the toughest test in the 21-year-old’s career.
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Despite the relative ease of stopping Franklin, Itauma got a few rounds in the bank. The stoppage came in the fifth round and it was Itauma’s longest fight since 2023, when he fought six rounds against Kostiantyn Dovbyshchenko.
Itauma was asked after the victory if any fight interests himand the opponent he indicated has another fight with Dave Allen from Doncaster.
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“I wanted to fight Hrgovic, but he’s fighting Dave Allen, so we’ll see.”
Promoter Frank Warren has spoken about the coming months for the 21-year-old and is confident his fighter will win world honors before the end of 2026.
He fought a tough guy, broke him, and did what no one else had done.
“Usyk’s fight will take place in June, after which he will defend the WBC title against Agit Kabayel. If he does not do so, he will be stripped of the belt.
“I’m sure he will fight for the world title this year.”
While neither Warren nor Itauma has made it clear who might be next, here are three potential names for the heavyweight talent’s next fight.
Agit Kabayel
The German star feels comfortable in the WBC as he is Oleksandr Usyk’s mandatory number one, and Mauricio Sulaiman confirmed that Kabayel should get his chance after the conclusion of Usyk’s upcoming fight against kickboxer Rico Verhoeven.
This makes a potential fight with Itauma unlikely, as the 33-year-old can be expected to wait for an opportunity for which he has had to be patient.
A fight between the two is not out of the question, however, as something very similar happened last October when Joseph Parker, who was Usyk’s number one contender, put his WBO position on the line against Fabio Wardley.
Parker lost that fight and Wardley became full world champion just a few weeks later, so Kabayela may be discouraged from taking such a risk.
Kabayel spoke to Inside The Ring in January and expressed great admiration for the rising heavyweight star.
“He’s youthful, he’s good, you know he’s fresh, but I think any style is good for fighting.
“When that fight comes, Kabayel vs Itauma, why not? It’s good for the fans.
“I’m ready for anyone, you know I say it, why not [fighting Itauma]? When His Excellency makes it happen, why not? I will fight everyone.”
Murat Gasijew
Probably the most likely opponent for Itauma’s next fight may be Russian heavyweight fighter Murat Gassiew.
The 32-year-old last took part in action in Dubai, where he brutally stopped the experienced Kubrat Pulev.
Gassijev has fought many great fighters, especially in the cruiserweight division, where he defeated Yuniel Dorticos and defeated Oleksandr Usyk.
He talked to professional boxing fans about a possible fight with Moses Itauma.
“I don’t know much about him; he’s a youthful player and very talented.
“He’s swift, he’s sturdy and I don’t know – I don’t see the future and we’ll have to see what happens after the Franklin fight.”
Gassiev won the WBA ‘Regular’ heavyweight title in his last fight, and with Itauma holding the top spot in the governing body, a victory over Gassiev will only strengthen the 21-year-old’s world title hopes.
Fabio Wardley
Probably the most compelling, if unlikely, next fight for Itauma will be against WBO world champion Fabio Wardley.
Wardley and Itauma train at the same gym under Ben Davison, and talk of a fight between them keeps coming up.
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Both fighters say a fight is unlikely in the near future; however, considering Itauma wants to become world champion and his stablemate holds one of those belts, a fight is definitely not impossible.
Usyk holds the remaining three belts and has a mandatory fight against Agit Kabayel, so Itauma may have trouble fighting for the WBA, IBF or WBC titles anytime soon.
Wardley spoke on DAZN immediately after the 21-year-old stopped Franklin and reiterated that the fight was unlikely.
“We are in different places, he looks at where I am and I look at Oleksandr Usyk, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.”
There are a few other options for the 21-year-old, including Martin Bakole or Zhilei Zhang, so who Itauma chooses to fight next will be very compelling.
The post Who’s next for Moses Itaum? Three fights after Franklin Stoppage appeared first on ProBoxing-Fans.com.
On Saturday in Sheffield, Josh Padley will defend his European super featherweight title against Aqib Fiaz for the first time.
Eddie HearnMatchroom is promoting the Padley vs Fiaz fight from Utilita Arena live on DAZN worldwide.
The pair were scheduled to fight on the undercard, but were later advanced to the main event Dalton Smith’s WBC super lightweight title defense against Albert Puello and then Galal Yafai’s clash with unified flyweight world champion Ricardo Sandoval was shelved due to injury.
Padley (18-1, 6 KO) won the vacant belt after a second-round stoppage of Jaouad Belmehdi in Newcastle in January.
The 30-year-old has won three times since a ninth-round defeat to Shakur Stevenson for the WBC lightweight title on four days’ notice.
Fiaz (14-1, 2 KO) is looking to break the script here and has won two in a row since an eight-round retirement loss to mutual opponent Reece Bellotti in 2023, whom Padley defeated by unanimous decision in October.
The 26-year-old last didn’t play 11 months ago, securing a unanimous decision victory over Alex Murphy.
Nadim-Sulaimaan will fight for the title of English champion
Ibrahim Nadim defends his English super featherweight crown for the first time against Ibraheem Sulaimaan.
Nadim (16-1, 2 KO) secured the vacant belt with a unanimous decision victory over Numan Hussain in November, and Sulaimaan (10-0, 5 KO) became the Midlands Area champion with a sixth-round victory over Nico Ogbeide also in November.
Undercard remaining
Middleweight Aaron Bowen (7-1, 5 KO) suffered his first professional loss to Tom Cowling in November, but can get back to winning ways with a stoppage victory over Troy Coleman (15-4-1, 7 KO).
Heavyweight prospect Leo Atang (6-0, 5 KO) can remain excellent by defeating Frenchman Fouad Shaili (5-4-2, 3 KO).
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Connor Mitchell (2-0, 1 KO) can improve his undefeated record by scoring points over Jesus Carrasco (2-4-2) at featherweight, while Chris Mulanda (2-0) can do the same against Connor Goulding (6-12) in their middleweight bout.
Adam Maca (5-0, 5 KO) and Edward Hardy (6-0, 2 KO) will return to the pitch against an as yet unspecified opponent.
The post Josh Padley vs Aqib Fiaz – Gigantic Fight Preview and Predictions appeared first on ProBoxing-Fans.com.
Anthony Joshua won’t be leaving boxing any time soon.
Joshua returns to the ring on July 25 in Saudi Arabia against Kristian Prengi, ahead of a thrilling clash with long-time rival Tyson Fury in November.
The two-time world heavyweight champion was expected to potentially end his career after his long-awaited clash with Fury, but the 36-year-old insists he can continue for another four years, even opening the door to a potential clash with the rising 21-year-old heavyweight champion, Moses This is going to hurt.
“For me, maybe until I’m 40,” Joshua told reporters.
“It’s only been about three or four years.
“I’ll be 37 in October, so it’s only three years, it’ll go by quickly.
“Of course it will be challenging, but I definitely think I’m tough enough to do it.
“Why not, why not? I’m definitely more mature.”
“AJ” will fight for the first time since the sixth-round knockout of Jake Paul in Miami in December.
The Watford player took a break from the sport after he was involved in a devastating road accident in Nigeria 10 days later that killed two of his close friends, Latif “Latz” Ayodele and Sina Ghami.
Joshua, who met Prenga face-to-face earlier this week, said he strongly supports parents Ayodele and Ghami.
“You’ll never get over it, but you’ll gain perspective in life,” he said BBC Sport.
“Life sometimes teaches you humility. You never know your fate.
“As a soldier, I stand powerful in defense of their parents.
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“First of all, it’s not about me.
“I think it’s crucial to put parents first at this time.
“I will have time to grieve, but I know that right now my heart and mind say that their parents are my main priority.”
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Joshua’s fight against Prenga will take place at the Jeddah Superdome.
Fury, who retired in April to defeat Arslanbek Makhmudov, is scheduled to have another warm-up fight on August 1.
The post Anthony Joshua REVEALS when he will retire from boxing appeared first on ProBoxing-Fans.com.
Chris Billam-Smith returns to his hometown of Bournemouth to headline the inaugural Zuffa Boxing UK event against Ryan Rozicki on Saturday.
Billam-Smith is taking on Rozicki at the Bournemouth International Center and the bill is being broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK and Paramount+ in the US.
“The Gentleman” is fighting in Bournemouth for the first time since he forced Mateusz Masternak to retire in the eighth round during the first defense of his WBO cruiserweight title.
After taking revenge on Richard Riakporhe in a rematch, the 35-year-old dropped the heavyweight belt lost by unanimous decision to Zurdo Ramirez in reunification in 2024
Billam-Smith (21-2, 13 KO) returned to winning ways after a points victory over Brandon Glanton in his last appearance in April last year.
Rozicki (21-1-1, 20 KO) has lost only once in his 23 professional fights, overtaken by Oscar Rivas in the fight for the WBC bridgeweight crown in 2021.
“The Bruiser” previously fought for the WBC interim cruiserweight title and drew against Yamil Alberto Peralta.
The 31-year-old Canadian returned to winning ways after knocking out Gerardo Mellado in the second round in March and will enter Saturday’s fight as the number one contender in the WBC rankings.
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Massey meets Clarke
Jack Massey meets Cheavon Clarke at the cruiserweight crossroads.
Massey (23-3, 13 KO) was knocked out by Opetaia in his fight for the 2024 IBF cruiserweight crown, but got back into the win column in November with a fourth-round stoppage of Ivan Gabriel Garcia.
Clarke (11-2, 8 KO), a 2020 Olympian, saw his progress ponderous after consecutive losses to Leonardo Mosquea and Viddal Riley.
After returning to play in December, the 35-year-old knocked out Anthony Holloway in the fourth round.
Undercard remaining
Lee Cutler (15-2, 7 KO) from Bournemouth moves to middleweight and can return to winning ways thanks to a points victory over Aaron Sutton (19-2, 3 KO).
Heavyweight Ivan Dychko (15-1, 14 KO) was defeated by Jermaine Franklin in September, but should bounce back by handing Harvey Dykes (7-0-1) his first loss after the break.
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Stephen McKenna (15-1, 14 KO) hasn’t fought since his loss to Cutler in 2024, but he should return after his victory over Casey James Streeter (15-3-2, 6 KO) in the middleweight division.
In the third middleweight fight, Sam Hickey (4-0, 1 KO) can break the undefeated record of Todd Tompkins (4-0) by scoring points.
Airy heavyweight Leon Hughes (4-0, 3 KO) and welterweight Alex Macmillan (3-0, 2 KO) should secure victories in their respective fights via stoppage.
The post Chris Billam-Smith vs. Ryan Rozicki – Gigantic Fight Preview and Predictions appeared first on ProBoxing-Fans.com.
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