Joshua Opens Door To Itauma Fight

Anthony Joshua has acknowledged Moses Itauma as a future opponent, expressing genuine openness to the matchup once he navigates his next two fights — a sequence that begins with Kristian Prenga on July 25 before a planned November showdown with Tyson Fury.

"Another opportunity. Will I? Of course. Let me get these two fights out of the way, and 100%, yeah, man. Why not, bro? This is what so many great opportunities presented themselves in the heavyweight division," Joshua said

The framing of a potential Joshua versus Itauma fight carries weight on both sides of the generational argument. At 29-4, Joshua is a two-time unified heavyweight champion whose career has been defined by enormous highs and significant lows — back-to-back losses to Usyk stripped him of the titles he spent years accumulating, and the path back to the top of the division has required rebuilding his reputation one fight at a time. Itauma, unbeaten at 14-0 with twelve knockouts, represents the next wave — a 21-year-old who stopped Dillian Whyte in one round, ended Mike Balogun in two, and became the first man to stop Jermaine Franklin.

A fight between them would be framed as either a passing of the torch or evidence that Joshua still belongs at the sport's highest level — perhaps both, depending on how it plays out. Joshua's willingness to name it publicly suggests he is not afraid of the test, even if the immediate priority is Prenga and then Fury.

The November date with Fury — a fight British boxing has been waiting on for the better part of a decade — is the destination both camps are building toward. Itauma, for now, sits beyond that.