As fight fans are aware, Saudi money man Turki Alalshikh has, these past few days, been busily naming the fights he wants to see. With his seemingly limitless funds, Alalshikh is expected to carry on making the big fight he wants to make. One fight Alalshikh wants to see that might come as a surprising choice, is a fight between reigning heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk and red-hot British prospect/contender Moses Itauma.
Speaking on Talk Sport, Alalshikh said he feels 20 year old Itauma has all the skill and ability needed to become “the biggest talent in Britain and around the world.” And, if Usyk doesn’t retire any time soon, Turki wants to see the unified WBA/WBO/WBC heavyweight champ get it on with fellow southpaw Itauma.
“If we have time, I would love to see Itauma versus Usyk,” Alalshikh said. “But only if we have time. It will depend if Usyk retires. I still want to see Itauma become the youngest ever heavyweight champion. I heard information about his sparring with [Daniel] Dubois, and the information is amazing. He can be the biggest talent in Britain and around the world.”
As far as Itauma’s sparring with Dubois, we know the old saying, ‘whatever happens in sparring stays in sparring.’ But with this one, it sure would be interesting to know, for sure, which man got the better of things. As for Itauama becoming the youngest ever heavyweight champion, Itauma has just four months in which to break Mike Tyson’s record – Tyson winning the WBC heavyweight belt at 20 years and five months. Itauma is now aged 20 years and almost a month.
But will we see Usyk stick around to fight Itauma? It really would be a fascinating fight, between two slick operators. But it seems the careers of these two will not overlap. This is a shame, but the reigning heavyweight champions, whoever they are when Itauma makes his move, had better watch out. There are still things Itauma has to prove, such as how he takes a great shot to the head, but the 11-0(9) fighter sure does seem to be the real deal.
How long will it be before Itauma wins a world title?
