Oleksandr Usyk doubles down on refusal to fight Moses Itauma but for new reason

Oleksandr Usyk claims he doesn’t want to ‘break’ Moses Itauma if the pair fought now.

Usyk is currently the unified champion but is being pursued by some of boxing’s young rising stars.

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That includes British heavyweight sensation Itauma, whose imperious undefeated record sees him now ranked at No.1 by both the WBO and WBA.

Itauma is understood to be pushing for a title shot after his fast-approaching clash with Jermaine Franklin.

And it is expected he will try to position himself to fight for a world title by the end of 2026 despite a growing queue waiting for the opportunity.

The Chatham power-puncher has suggested he wants to fight the Ukrainian, but the champion suggested he doesn’t want to take on the young prospect.

Now he has doubled down on that exact claim, but suggested he doesn’t want to be the one to halt the Briton’s rampant streak.

He said: “I said before, I’m not going to fight Itauma because he is a young guy.

“But I don’t want to break him because this guy likes me.”

Usyk has never lost in his career and has developed a reputation as somewhat of a Brit slayer, having beaten Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Daniel Dubois and Derek Chisora.

Despite moving towards the final stages of his stellar career, the masterful operator would still fancy his chances of becoming the first to tame the newcomer.

For now Itauma will have full focus on Franklin, who he hopes will give him a stern test to try and prepare him for the world level stage.

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What next for Usyk?

For Usyk, it won’t be Itauma as he has instead chosen the lucrative payday presented for a clash with kickboxing legend Rico Verhoeven in May.

He will then be faced with an interesting conundrum with Agit Kabayel likely to enforce his mandatory challenge with the WBC.

And although the Ukrainian has opened the door to facing the German at times, he has alternative plans.

He is next planning to meet the winner of Fabio Wardley vs Daniel Dubois which takes place in the same month as his return.

But promoter Frank Warren believes he could well have a problem in enforcing it.

He told talkSPORT: “No conversations have been had regarding [Usyk’s hit list].

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“He’s got his fight in Egypt against the kickboxer. After that, he has to defend his WBC title against Agit Kabayel, who’s been very patient and active.

“He has to do that fight. If he doesn’t do it, then he has to vacate the title or he’ll be stripped, and then he can fight one of those guys [Wardley, Dubois, and Fury].

“They’re with us – we can make these fights happen.”