Moses Itauma is an incredible talent at only 20 years old but who should he fight next?
Except Usyk, he would be favourite against most boxers.
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Moses Itauma is an incredible talent at only 20 years old but who should he fight next?
Except Usyk, he would be favourite against most boxers.
As we all keep saying we need him to get some rounds in.
I don't think the Dubois match up is a bad idea or too early. Someone like Zhang too risky. Parker will give him a few rounds.
But if I had to put my money on it I think he'll go straight in with Usyk. The offer will be too great.
Put him in with AJ.
filip hrgovic
wardley
First thought was to go on durability but thinking about it, he has to face some craftiness. He's already shown he can break thru stationary walls. What about a guy like Hunter? Hard to ignore the dye already being cast for him as he's being personally maneuvered to a strap. Sit's top 5 right now in 3 of the 4 bodies. And that's before he vaporized Whyte yesterday. Almost feels like a Zander Zayas jet pack strapped to his back, putting the horse ahead of the cart.
I can really see them forcing scenario on Usyk and Usyk, rightly so, lets the belt drop with Itauma for vacant. Does anyone see Parker taking Itauma for Wbo rather than Usyk? That would be pulling the rug out from under Usyk. We already know where the push is. Downright disrespectful :-X
Usyk is who Itauma should fight next.
All this talk of "No !! Don't go near Usyk ?"
What ?
His last fight against Dubois was the first time I've seen him give a real beat-down and total schooling of not only an elite HW, but any elite fighter. Even as a cruiser, he wasn't really running the elites out of the ring.
His two fights with AJ and Fury were very competitive (especially the second fights). His fight against Derek Chisora was also very competitive, and many thought that in Usyk Vs Dubois 1. That was a legal shot by DDD and he should have got the belt.
Usyk isn't incredibly skilled in any area. He's good in all areas. He's the "finds a way to win" guy.
Which is awesome.
But just imagine for a second that you didn't know who Usyk was, and you watched him fight.
I think, if you were being honest, you'd be underwhelmed with his power, his speed....you'd see he has good defence and feet but isn't a shockingly talented fighter. He just frustrates guys with his toughness and he's reshaped what being "in shape" truly means. But online I've seen many (and I mean many) say he's better than Ali and would have beaten him, never mind Ali I would not be confident that Usyk would have beaten either prime Klitchko's, especially Vitali. It's amazing to me that ppl are talking all this BIG SH*T about a guy whose only had 24 fights.
Now don't get me wrong Usyk is 220 pounds of elite boxing ability. A gap in his teeth to help air intake and stamina. Balls the size of Ukraine. A chin made of titanium. The fighting heart of a gorilla. Feints that give would give a bodybuilder a seizure.
But
Itauma would win.
His boxing method is
- He pot shots you (light jab)
- Trying to get you to counter
- If you do counter, he steps back, makes you miss, then counters your counter
- Then if his counter hurts, he’s unleash his full arsenal at you
- If his counter doesn't hurt then, it's rinse and repeat and back to #1
I think that style would be very very effective against Usyk
Now he’d have to do that consistently. He'd have to bring it. Bite down on the mouthpiece and rough Usyk's ass up. Educated pressure, high fitness levels and a having a good chin are good ingredients. Punch variety along with decent pop in your shots also helps. Wait for Uysk to throw first and beat him at his own game.
Then when the bombs drop ?
ALL OUT WAR
Itauma is a fighter that can go from 0 to 100 in a second. He's a twitchy bastard and no-one is going to live with his hand speed...... even usyk.
Turki isn't grooming anyone and apparently and more importantly he want's to see Usyk Vs Itauma next
Moses Itauma will show Usyk something he's never seen before! Itauma isn't a huge, sluggish heavyweight that gasses in 5 rounds! He's a fast, patient, hard hitting southpaw with great defense and counters! Usyk is in trouble MARK MY WORDS!
calm down tony bellew
How can you rubbish Usyk? @Denilson3.0
The man has literally beaten todays best, bigger and stronger heavyweights (twice). Usyk is getting better with age.
I agree Usyk beating, bigger stronger guys are great accomplishments. He is this generations finest. But great accomplishments don't make you a great fighter.
Both of Usyks best at HW wins have aged badly already. Fury barely beat an mma fighter in his boxing debut and AJ was destroyed in a few rounds recently,
And when you consider that Usyk didn’t show he’s in different to league to AJ or Fury, nor did he show that with the elites at cruiser that’s very telling.
Usyk has limited power, he hasn’t got a great, long jab, and he’s shown vulnerabilities to body shots and fighting on the inside.
I’m not saying he’s not a very good fighter. He is, but you can still be a very good fighter and overrated at the same time. Canelo and Tank come to mind
Let alone the elites. Guys like Tony Tucker, David Tua, Ray Mercer, Razor Ruddock, Tommy Morrison, Shannon Briggs, Corrie Saunders, would give him hell
I think Itauma beats Usyk. I could well be wrong, but that's what I think.
Fury beat Wlad and Wilder. AJ unified titles and beat Wlad in a great fight. Both are the next best this generation had. Usyk beat them both twice when no one else could.
Usyk fought all his cruiser weight title fights away from home. Some were very hard and close fights. They were top boxers.
You are not appreciating a generational great.
feed him to jai
what about guido vianello? it'd be nice to compare how he does with how richard torrez did
He looks like a very hot prospect, but that’s all he is at the moment. He has had 13 fights … Mike Tyson’s 13 th fight was Conroy Nelson (15-7-2), Cassius Clay’s 13th fight was George Logan (24-7-1), George Foreman’s 13th fight was Gary Wiler (4-4).
Those guys are legends of the ring, but does anybody think they were ready to get in the ring against Oleksander Usyk in their next fight?
Usyk”s 13th fight was against Marco Huck!
Itauma needs rounds under his belt, he needs a few tough moments, he needs to get cracked on the chin and he needs to develop into a more complete fighter.
Realistically he needs to be looking at durable ‘gatekeepers’ next, like Ajagba, Bakole or even a name like Ruiz next.
uido vianello has a fight now set for october so he's out of the running
I said a while back that Jai will eventually go up to HW and will probably win a title. Now Moses has come on strong, this could be a rivalry for the ages. Proper Barnstormer.
I saw Okolie interviewed yesterday and he said he would fight Moses next.
I’m not a massive fan of Okolie, but he spoke really well in this interview. He said when Moses was 15 and he was preparing for a World CW Shot, Moses gave him a really good spar.
He spoke very highly of Itauma and said he’s a big fan of his and he’s not a fan of many boxers.
Then Kugan asked him if he would fight him next and he didn’t hesitate and said yes.
He wasn’t being cocky, he said he’s intrigued to see exactly where Moses is , and he’s only gonna get better and better, so now might be a good time.
He couldn’t speak highly enough of Itauma.
Actually wouldn't have been a bad one. Definitely think Itauma wins but in Guido you got many of the perimeter matters that you want to see a promising prospect deal with very early. The massive height, he's sturdy range the sheer awkwardness and ability to make it ugly and gritty at the same time. He showed that with Torrez and honestly I don't think Torrez showed much adjustment or gears with Guido.
The thing is now all of these 'learning' rungs on the ladder are out of the window as he's been propelled straight to #1 and #2. It reminds me of a Berto or Wilder scenario....nooooo he's not on that lower level in skill...but it'll all be learning on the job among some of the best now. People can anoint him guaranteed gold off of a collection of 1-2 rounders sure, but it's still putting the cart before the horse similarly. If that makes sense.
Richard Torrez Jr or Stephen Shaw or Ajagba if not Wardley...