Moses Itauma Calls Out Joe Joyce For Fight On Usyk v Fury II Undercard
Fast-rising heavyweight prospect Moses Itauma has called out Joe Joyce for a fight on the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk’s rematch with Tyson Fury in December.
Itauma (10-0-0 8 KO) is one of the brightest young talents in the heavyweight division and has made a flawless start to his professional career. The British fighter made the step up to 10-round bouts in his last two fights and knocked out both opponents in the second round.
Itauma’s most recent bout against Mariusz Wach was part of the undercard for Joyce’s all-British heavyweight clash against veteran Derek Chisora in London in July.
The outcomes of their respective fights couldn’t have been more different; while Itauma barely broke a sweat to crush Wach, Joyce was engaged in an all-out war with Chisora and was sent to the canvas in the ninth round before losing on points.
The defeat – a third in his last four fights – led to calls for Joyce to hang up his gloves, although in the immediate aftermath, the ‘Juggernaut’ said he plans to continue.
Itauma has now given Joyce a possible option, and should it happen on the Usyk v Fury undercard in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, it would also give the 38-year-old Londoner a late-career payday.
“Me and my brother were thinking Joe Joyce would be a good fight,” Itauma, 19, said. “I feel like it’d be a bit of a Mariusz Wach situation, where people think he’s got a chin, he’s gonna take me somewhere. That could be a good fight for me – Joe Joyce could be a good fight for me.
“I’d take any fight, really. I’m screaming for loads of people’s names, but none of them really make sense. ‘Who do you want to go for?’ ‘Who’s got the titles.’ Solomon Dacres; Fabio Wardley; the Ukrainian guy that has the European title. They’re the kind of people that I want to be fighting, but at the same time, for me to fight them, it doesn’t make sense.”
Itauma has become a regular presence at Fury’s training camps and has fought on several of the former world champion’s undercards, including two in Saudi Arabia; Fury’s lucky-escape win against Ngannou last October and the classic undisputed bout with Usyk in May.
Frank Warren, Itauma’s promoter, revealed that he’s been working hard to secure his fighter’s next bout against a more established opponent, but has so far struggled to find interest.
“I understand why they don’t want to fight me,” Itauma said. “If I was in their shoes, I wouldn’t take the fight with me either. Why would I? It’s a losing situation. If I win, it’s, ‘He’s meant to do that – he’s a kid’. If you lose, you can’t really come back from that because you got beat by a kid.
“The Wach fight was easier than I expected. I trained hard for that fight. At the beginning I thought this was going to be a fight I’d have to overcome; showcase something else, not just power. It didn’t get to that point. It was a little bit disappointing.”
