Moses Itauma says he is confident he could defeat Oleksandr Usyk, even though a fight between the two heavyweights now appears increasingly unlikely.
The 21-year-old will fight Filip Hrgovic for the vacant IBF heavyweight title on August 29 at London’s O2 Arena. Victory would make Itauma the youngest heavyweight world champion since Mike Tyson beat Trevor Berbick in 1986.
Hrgovic represents the toughest test of Itauma’s career so far. His only professional defeat came against Daniel Dubois in 2024, when the fight was stopped because of cuts in the eighth round.
Usyk, meanwhile, remains the lineal heavyweight champion despite vacating his three major belts. The 39-year-old is approaching the final stage of his career after previously defeating Tyson Fury twice and more recently stopping Rico Verhoeven in the 11th round.
Asked whether he believes he could beat Usyk now, Itauma gave a confident answer and made clear that he backs himself against the former undisputed champion.
Image Credit: BBC