Itauma’s Promoter Eyes Wallin Or Franklin Fight

Moses Itauma’s promoter, Francis Warren, says he’s all for Itauma (12-0, 10 KOs) probably combating Otto Wallin or Jermaine Franklin subsequent, following his second-round technical knockout of Mike Balogun final Saturday night time in Glasgow, Scotland.

Itauma’s Subsequent Struggle Choices

Wallin has misplaced two out of his final 4 fights and is coming off a defeat towards 41-year-old journeyman Derek Chisora. Most followers would agree that Wallin could be a poor choice for Itauma to struggle if the thought is to develop him and provides him rounds. I’ve doubts whether or not that might be the aim of Itauma’s administration in making that struggle. Selecting Wallin, 34, would make Itauma look good.

Francis additionally says they need a “prime 10” opponent for Itauma in a heavyweight eliminator. Utilizing Wallin or Jermaine Franklin wouldn’t work in the event that they go that route. Neither of these journeymen is ranked within the prime 10 by any of the 4 sanctioning our bodies, and Franklin isn’t ranked within the prime 15.

It’s not superb for Itauma to go the straightforward path to change into necessary for the winner of the Oleksandr Usyk vs. Daniel Dubois struggle. The 20-year-old Itauma isn’t being developed with the weak matchmaking frequently being achieved for him. That’s the criticism boxing followers have about Itauma.

Making a Pretend Star

Itauma seems to be like he’s being created to seem higher than he’s. The opposition shoveled into the ring for Moses to struggle suggests he’s being manufactured to be a pretend star.

The issue with these kinds of fighters is that they have to be protected all through their careers to maintain them from dropping. We simply noticed one other pretend, Tyson Fury, get repeatedly overwhelmed when he lastly stepped up for the primary time late in his profession towards his first high quality fighter, Oleksandr Usyk.

For Itauma to be developed in an actual approach, he ought to be combating these fighters for the subsequent two or three years:

– Joseph Parker– Agit Kabayel– Zhilei Zhang– Bakhodir Jalolov– Richard Torrez Jr.– Efe Ajagba– Filip Hrgovic– Fabio Wardley– Martin Bakole

It doesn’t seem that Moses Itauma’s administration is all for matching him towards any of those fighters apart from the woefully poorly conditioned 300-lb Bakole. I doubt that Itauma would beat even half of the above fighters as a result of he will get hit, and he appeared susceptible towards the previous NFL participant Mike Balogun final night time.

Matchmaking: Smoke & Mirrors

“We need to struggle somebody within the prime 10, and that might be an eliminator. I’m fairly positive we’d be capable of try this,” mentioned promoter Francis Warren to BoxNation about Moses Itauma’s subsequent struggle. “I feel Otto Wallin could be an amazing struggle for him subsequent.”

Wallin could be a horrible selection as a result of he can’t punch, coming off a defeat to Chisora, and wouldn’t probably give Itauma rounds. Otto was knocked out in 5 rounds by Anthony Joshua in 2023. He was dropped twice by the washed Chisora final February. That tells you all it’s essential learn about why Wallin could be chosen for Itauma’s subsequent opponent. He’s a straightforward mark and wouldn’t be any risk to exposing the 20-year-old Moses.

“Otto has confirmed himself to be a really sturdy, powerful opponent, who has garnered respect from the boxing neighborhood due to the work he’s achieved towards Tyson [Fury], Anthony [Joshua],” mentioned Francis. “He gave Derek [Chisora] an amazing struggle, and for Moses, who needs to get some rounds in, that’s in all probability an amazing problem. Jermaine Franklin is one other one which I significantly just like the look of. By the top of the 12 months, we’ll be seeking to step it up significantly.”

Franklin has misplaced two out of his final 4 fights and isn’t ranked. Itauma’s administration ought to be aiming increased than him and Wallin. Once more, they need to concentrate on matching Itauma towards fighters like Kabayel, Torrez Jr, Jalolov, Dubois, Ajagba, and Wardley. If Itauma loses to these guys, his promoters can concentrate on growing him extra. To date, there’s zero improvement being achieved. He’s being fed tomato cans to make him look nice, nevertheless it’s obvious that it’s smoke & mirrors.

Bakole: Not Itauma’s Stage

“We get #1 with the WBO,” mentioned Francis about Itauma being moved to #1 by the World Boxing Group. “He’s prime #3 with the WBA. So, we’re sitting fairly with two of the organizations, and I feel it’s as much as us once we need to pull the set off to place our arms as much as transfer to that subsequent stage.”

Surprisingly, Itauma has been elevated to #1 with the WBO after being a non-top 15 ranked fighter, Balogun. How is that achieved? Itauma has but to struggle a contender, and he arguably shouldn’t be ranked within the prime tier, given the poor opposition he’s mowed down. Itauma is being matched like Edgar Berlanga was when High Rank promoted him. They fed him 16 stiffs at first of his profession, permitting him to create a 16-0 document with 16 knockouts. When he stepped up towards journeymen, he started struggling and shortly left the corporate. Itauma is being moved similar to him.

“To choose Martin Bakole is an enormous mistake. Even Frank [Warren] is aware of I’m not his stage,” mentioned Martin Bakole to talkSport Boxing, making it clear that he views Moses Itauma as beneath his stage that he’s working at. “I’m trying ahead to combating for the world title. If he needs to struggle me, I don’t know why I’d struggle him. For what?”