MANCHESTER, England – Moses Itauma may have found his next opponent.
Promoter Frank Warren has struggled to convince the division’s elite to step in the ring with his frightening youngster. Last night’s performance against Jermaine Franklin may not have helped his cause, either. Itauma became the first man to stop the usually durable Franklin, violently knocking his man out with a left uppercut in Round 5.
The 21-year-old stated that he had had his eyes on Filip Hrgovic prior to the Croatian signing to fight Dave Allen on May 16. With Hrgovic busy, Itauma must now look elsewhere for his next foe, but he may not have to look much further.
Al Siesta, the CEO of IBA Pro, who currently works with WBA 'regular' heavyweight titleholder Murat Gassiev has thrown the Russian’s hat into the mix. The former owner of the belt Kubrat Pulev had been ordered to defend his belt against Itauma, but a lucrative contest against Gassiev was then allowed by the sanctioning body. The 32-year-old Gasiev would go on to knock the Bulgarian spark out in the sixth round in December.
Now Siesta wants to see the 33-2 (26 KOs) Gassiev in with Itauma.
“Listen, Murat Gassiev is a devastating puncher, and what I've seen about Moses Itauma, he's very, very impressive, but he's an aggressive fighter, and being an aggressive fighter against a one-punch knockout artist is always dangerous,” Siesta told BoxingScene. “I mean, Gassiev could be outboxed, as we've seen by Oleksander Usyk [in 2018], but when you go toe-to-toe as Moses does, Moses is a hunter by style, and it could be devastating for him, potentially.”
Itauma, 14-0 (12 KOs), claimed that he passed the chin test against Franklin, 24-3 (15 KOs), after taking some shots before the finish in Round 5.
“Taking shots from Jermaine Franklin, who is not a puncher, and taking shots from Murat Gassiev, who is a cranial bender, it's a different thing, I'm telling you,” Siesta said.
Warren announced following the contest that Itauma’s next fight would be in the UK in July. Although Siesta is open to Gassiev travelling to the UK for the contest, if the WBA orders Gassiev to defend against the No. 1 ranked Itauma, then the IBA would bid heavily to give the Russian home advantage.
“Listen, we would be happy to bring Moses Itauma to Russia, so we probably would go to a purse bid, and that would be a really interesting financial affair, and very lucrative for whoever comes,” he said. “It would be very, very interesting. But if the money is right, England is a great market, and to knock Itauma out in front of British fans will be spectacular.”
IBA Pro is financially back by sports functionary and ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin, Umar Kremlev.
“Umar Kremlev always goes heavy, otherwise he's bored,” said Siesta of the IBA’s potential bid for Itauma-Franklin.
