Moses Itauma is the latest to weigh in on the fantastic all-British heavyweight world title fight between champion Fabio Wardley and challenger Daniel Dubois.
Wardley has accepted a challenging first defence of his WBO belt, which he gained by being upgraded from interim to full champion after Oleksandr Usyk decided to vacate rather than face the big-punching Brit.
It left him with the option to choose a voluntary defence, and he would have been forgiven for opting for a slightly easier touch. Instead, Queensberry Promotions matched two of their own by securing Dubois a shot. The Londoner lost his own IBF belt to Usyk last year, but still represents one of the most dangerous match-ups in the division.
Fans will be hard pushed to find an analyst or fighter who is predicting this one to go the distance. Itauma, who trains alongside Wardley at the Ben Davison Performance Centre, said the champion was capable of ‘smashing Dubois out’ and picked him to retain his title.
“I think Fabio can do it. Fabio keeps surprising everyone anyway so if you write off Fabio he’ll end up smashing Dubois out anyway so it doesn’t really matter what you think. You don’t really know what to expect from Fabio. I’d probably say Fabio wins, to be honest.”
As for fighting the winner, things would be simpler of course if Itauma’s stablemate did not win, meaning he could set his sights on Dubois for the world title. However, despite being guided by the same trainer, Wardley still does not entirely rule out making the Wardley fight happen in some way.
“If Daniel Dubois wins then that makes sense. Fabio Wardley’s obviously in the same gym as me so that would be a sticky predicament … Everything can make sense. It all makes sense, but as of right now I’ve got Jermaine Franklin.”
Six weeks before the world title clash, Itauma takes the next step in his campaign when he faces durable American Jermaine Franklin. Should he win, he will no doubt be ringside at the Co-op Live in Manchester for Wardley-Dubois.
