Who Should Moses Itauma Fight Next? 5 Potential Opponents

Heavyweight boxing has a new superstar. At the weekend, Moses Itauma obliterated Jermaine Franklin Jr with a violent knockout that saw the 21-year-old move to 14-0 in the professional ranks.

Franklin showed plenty of durability, absorbing Itauma’s best shots until the third round, when a chopping right hand sent him crashing down to the canvas. Even Dillian Whyte and Anthony Joshua couldn’t do this – Frankin remained on his feet for the entirety of his fights with those two.

To Franklin’s credit, he got up – not only this, he even managed to enjoy some success in round four. Nevertheless, Itauma connected with a monolithic rear uppercut in round five, leaving Franklin in a crumpled heap. Referee Steve Gray had seen enough, immediately calling a halt to the proceedings.

With his latest hurdle overcome, who should Itauma take on next? Interest in the youngster is higher than it has ever been – here are five names who could present him with his latest challenge.

Zhilei Zhang

Zhilei Zhang has been out of the ring for over a year now – with no fight news in sight for the Chinese power puncher, he could prove to be a solid name on Itauma’s resume.

Of course, fighting Zhang always carries an element of risk. He is one of the hardest-hitting Heavyweights in the history of the division – nevertheless, Itauma is fast and defensively responsible enough to avoid Zhang’s best shots.

Itauma has never fought anyone who hits anywhere nearly as hard as Zhang. We’re looking to give him opponents who can present him with new challenges – for all his flaws, the ‘Big Bang’ would certainly be able to do this.

Richard Torrez Jr.

This one doesn’t need to happen next, as both Itauma and Richard Torrez Jr are still young by modern Heavyweight standards – nevertheless, Torrez wants the fight, as per Fight Hub TV on YouTube.

A technically refined fighter, Torrez would force Itauma into a chess match, rather than a slugfest. Thankfully, Itauma is also very skilled from a technical standpoint and would relish such a challenge.

We have seen Itauma carefully pick his opponents apart in the past – Torrez has done similar things to his opponents, pushing them into making mistakes to create openings. We’d rather see this potential bout marinate for a while before making it official, but we certainly wouldn’t be against it.

Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller

After demolishing Jermaine Franklin, a prospective fight against Jarrell Miller seems like a sideways move. In many ways, it is – but Miller is a master of mind games. Itauma has never faced such a brash personality – it will be interesting to see how he reacts to the motor-mouthed ‘Big Baby’.

On top of this, Miller’s durability is legendary. He might be even harder to knock down thank Franklin was – he was stopped by Daniel Dubois back in 2023, but was never knocked off his feet.

Miller is the sort of fighter who will always generate interest – he could be the perfect pantomime villain for Itauma at this stage of his career.

Filip Hrgovic

Assuming Filip Hrgovic can defeat Dave Allen on May 17, he could be an excellent opponent for Itauma. It does, however, hinge on his performance against Allen – if he struggles against the Doncaster man, he can forget about a high-profile bout any time soon.

Hrgovic’s chin seems to be crafted out of iron. He took some enormous punches from the likes of Daniel Dubois, David Adeleye and Zhilei Zhang – yet still, not one of them could knock him down.

On top of this, Hrgovic is a clear step up from Itauma’s previous opponents. Many see Hrgovic as an underachiever – he is a much better fighter than his record might suggest.

Agit Kabayel

As far as we’re concerned, Agit Kabayel is the 3rd-best Heavyweight in the world right now. With stoppage wins over Arslanbek Makhmudov, Frank Sanchez and Zhilei Zhang, it isn’t difficult to see why.

Should Itauma take on Kabayel, he would not enter the fight as the betting favourite – the same thing can’t be said for any other fighter on this list. A ferocious pressure fighter who likes to apply an educated body attack, Kabayel is the bogeyman of the Heavyweight division at the moment.

However, he has his weaknesses. Due to the nature of his aggressive approach, he can be somewhat lax defensively – particularly against the uppercut, as he likes to dip his head to generate leverage behind his body punches. We all know how strong Itauma’s rear uppercut is – furthermore, his timing is similarly excellent. Call us crazy if you want, but we think Itauma can beat Kabayel if the fight is made.