Boxing

Moses Itauma Set To Return On Usyk-Dubois II Undercard, Rules Out Two Opponents

The Ring Magazine's Prospect of the Year is making a quick turnaround following his KO win over the weekend.
Johan Alyas Blanco|
IMAGO / PA Images

Moses Itauma is not wasting any time trying to rise up the ranks in the heavyweight division.

The Ring Magazine is reporting that the heavyweight prodigy is returning to the ring on the undercard of the Oleksandr Usyk vs. Daniel Dubois rematch. That event is July 19th at Wembley Stadium in London.

The news comes only five days after Itauma's last fight, where he knocked out Mike Balogun in the second round on May 24th. In that bout, Itauma (12-0, 10 KOs) put Balogun (21-2, 16 KOs) on the canvas on three separate occasions, while taking little-to-no damage.

With his latest performance, the 20-year-old is now ranked in the top 10 of three of the four sanctioning bodies at heavyweight. He is No. 3 in the WBA, No. 7 in the IBF and is the No. 1 contender according to the WBO.

This next fight could see a major step up in competition for the prospect, with either a big name or a rising contender in the works. But we can rule out a few names that will not be the next opponent for Itauma. Frank Warren, Itauma's promoter, said that neither Martin Bakole or former WBO champion Joseph Parker are being considered as opponents.

Parker (36-3, 24 KOs) is currently on the best run of his career, winning six fights in a row. Among the names taken on this run include Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang and most recently Bakole on February 22nd.

Bakole (21-2-1, 16 KOs) has not had the best 2025. He started the year getting stopped by Parker in two rounds after taking the fight on two days notice. Then, he made a quick turnaround, fighting to a majority draw against Efe Ajagba on May 3rd. The recent slump is far from his best form, when he stopped Jared Anderson in fifth round on August 3rd, 2024.

While an opponent is not officially named yet for Itauma, July 19th will most definately fast track the 20-year-old to a world title shot.

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Johan Alyas Blanco
JOHAN ALYAS BLANCO

Johan Alyas Blanco is a writer for KO On SI. Before joining in March 2025, he worked as a News Producer in Tallahassee and Orlando. He also works for several fight promotions in boxing and MMA, working on social media content. When he’s not writing, Alyas covers boxing on his own YouTube channel, The Split Decision. Blanco has a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from UCF, with a minor in sports business management. Alyas has interviewed several big names in combat sports, including Jorge Masvidal, Edgar Berlanga and Brian Norman Jr. His goal is to bring boxing back to prominence.

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