#1 selected Moses Itauma and the WBA ‘ordinary’ heavyweight champion Kubrat Pulev were ordered by the sanction body to start negotiating with the fight. The deadline for an agreement agreed is November 14.
Fans are already criticizing Itauma today for the news of the WBA that commands him and Pulev to fight. They predict that Itauma will take the fight to win a belt without risking a loss.
Another outdated opponent
If I were Itauma, I would not fight because it is meaningless. But given Itauma’s track record for the fight against older guys to build his unbeaten, this struggle is so he.
It is the perfect situation for 20-year-old Itauma (13-0, 11 COs) to become a world champion without risking a loss. With a victory, Moses would be a secondary WBA champion. In other words, the lesser champion. The belt holder that owns the prestigious WBA title is Oleksandr Ulsyk.
The 44-year-old man Pulev (32-3, 14 COs) fits the category of the type of opposition that the Queensberry-Bereau has fought Itauma since becoming a pro in 2023. Three of his opponents were in their 40s, and many were in the mid-thirties.
It is unclear whether Itauma will go along with the command of the WBA to fight against Pulev. If he takes the fight, it will be a bad look for him, as he recently chose not to vote to an IBF title -Liminator to fight Frank Sanchez. Fighting Pulev would make Itauma look like he was being practiced in a title.
If Itauma is just as good as his fans and promoters who set him up to be, it’s useless for him to fight against Pulev to become the WBA Secondary champion.
Still no step-up
What Itauma should have done was to fight Sanchez to show that he is the right thing, not the hype task that some box fans suspect he is. It is difficult not to see Itauma in that light when one looks at the lower-level opposition for which he stands as a pro.
There must have been an opponent at this point to test if itauma is the stuff, but there was not one yet. It’s a red flag. The Sanchez fight or the Filip Hrgovic match would have been the perfect match for Moses to prove that he is not as false as some fans think.
Since 2015, Olly Campbell has brought readers clear perspective and a steady voice on the biggest evenings of Boxing.
Last updated on 10/15/2025
