Moses Itauma insisted Oleksandr Usyk has “earned the right to do whatever he wants” despite the Briton amplifying calls for a fight between the pair with a stunning stoppage of Jermaine Franklin.
Unified world heavyweight champion Usyk, as well as Tyson Fury, have in the past few months dismissed the prospect of taking on 21-year-old Itauma, citing his age and inexperience as a primary reason.
Itauma, though, stopped Franklin for the first time in his 27-fight career, something Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte could not do, to move to 14-0 and underline his status as an emerging contender.
Asked whether taking out Franklin midway through the fifth round in a dominant performance in Manchester might be the catalyst to lure Usyk into a showdown sometime in the future, Itauma offered a pragmatic response.
“Listen, Usyk has earned the right to do whatever he wants,” Itauma said. “There’s a pecking order that obviously I’ve got to respect.
“I don’t pay attention to any of that, I don’t really care what any of these other heavyweights think or feel. I know what the truth is and I know the ability that I’m capable of. Now I’ve got to go out there and show it.
“I’ve just turned 21, I’ve got Dillian Whyte, Demsey McKean, now Jermaine Franklin — knockouts, by the way — under my belt. I always knew I could do this but I didn’t think it would be so soon.
“I’ve done what some other British heavyweights couldn’t do and they’ve gone on to achieve successful things. So what’s the limit for me?”
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Usyk will not be next as he takes on former world kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt and Itauma’s promoter Frank Warren wants to get the youngster back in the ring in July.
However, he is ranked the number one challenger in the WBO and WBA rankings and Warren hopes to arrange a world title fight later in the year, with WBO president Gustavo Olivieri saying on X on Saturday night he will “formally recommend” Itauma to be installed as mandatory challenger.
Itauma revealed afterwards top of his immediate wishlist is a bout with former IBF interim title challenger Filip Hrgovic, although the Croatian takes on Dave Allen in Doncaster on May 16.
“I just like the Hrgovic fight,” Itauma added. “It’s nothing personal to these fighters.
“I’ve always just tried to strive for greatness and Hrgovic is a great fight for me. But he’s boxing Dave Allen so we’ve just got to go back to the drawing board and see who’s available.
“I don’t think (the fight against Franklin) could have gone much better. I went the rounds that were necessary, I got the job done and for all you lot who wanted to ask me if I had a chin, I took a shot as well. I finally answered some questions and now it’s about what’s next.”
