Moses Itauma has confirmed that David Adeleye is someone he “could” fight next, but he’s not someone that he was looking to fight.
The unbeaten #1 WBA and #1 WBO heavyweight contender Itauma (13-, 11 KOs) states that three names have been offered to him by Queensberry for his fight on December 13 at the Co-Op Live Arena in Manchester, England.
Besides Adeleye (14-2, 13 KOs), another name rumored to be in the running is Michael Hunter. Itauma, 20, will be sharing the December 13th card with journeyman Dereck Chisora, who supposedly is fighting for the final time.
The Sanchez Avoidance
Interestingly, Itauma failed to mention the fight he turned down against Frank Sanchez in what would have been an IBF title eliminator to determine the next mandatory for Oleksander Usyk.
Itauma’s decision not to fight the Cuban Sanchez confirmed in the minds of many fans that he’s trying to take the backdoor route to a world title by avoiding all the sharks in the division. They feel that he’s not interested in taking risks and just wants to fight journeymen-type opponents.
“It could be, but he’s not someone I was looking at,” said Moses Itauma to talkSport Boxing about David Adeleye. “I’m a 20-year-old with a lot of talent, but I don’t got the backing of an Anthony Joshua or Tyson Fury. So, I can’t pull as much strings as people think.”
Itauma Plays Helpless
Itauma sounds helpless in this interview, and it doesn’t make sense. With his popularity and all the hype behind him in the UK, how can he not be directly involved with his opponent selection? He comes across like he’s trying to dodge taking responsibility for fighting another tomato can. What fans would like to see is Itauma to come out and say, ‘It was my choice to fight’ whoever he’s matched against, instead of passing the buck.
“I opened up Instagram, and I saw so many posts that I turned down a fight with Efe Ajagba. I had a meeting with Queensberry not too long ago, and they gave me three names. None of them was Efe Ajagba,” said Itauma.
The Ajagba Deflection
I have no idea what Itauma is talking about. Fans haven’t been saying that he ducked Ajagba. They’ve been talking about how he didn’t want to fight Frank Sanchez, and that’s everywhere. Where did he get Ajabga from?
“I got three names. I’m not going to disclose them yet. It’s a choice of three names. That’s probably how much influence I have on the guys that I fight,” said Itauma.
I don’t like the way this sounds. For Itauma to be so mysterious about his next opponent, it’s a bad sign that he might be fighting another can.
