WBO’s Moses Itauma #1 Rank: A Farce?

WBO president Gustavo Olivieri revealed tonight that Moses Itauma has been elevated to #1 in the heavyweight rankings with their organization following his second-round knockout win over the unknown Mike Balogun on Saturday night in Glasgow, Scotland.

Fans on social media are critical of the WBO’s decision and see it as bizarre and a sign of Itauma receiving favoritism by their organization because he’s not beaten any contenders. His 12 victories have come against lower-level fighters, and he’s yet to fight a top-15 contender. He looked smug inside the ring after his fight.

Itauma’s Controversial Rise 

This is another reason the sanctioning bodies need to be phased out of boxing and replaced by a ranking body that makes logical choices. How on Earth is Moses  Itauma ranked #1 after beating nothing tomato cans his entire two-year career? Is it asking too much for Itauma to defeat two of these killers to earn his #1 ranking with the WBO?

– Joseph Parker
– Agit Kabayel
– Richard Torrez
– Bakhodir Jalalov
– Filip Hrgovic
– Martin Bakole

The way Itauma performed against this person, Balogun, he’d lose to the entire list. This is just a short list of contenders that would beat Itauma.

It makes little sense for the 20-year-old Itauma to be ranked #1 with the WBO because he has no victories over contenders. Usually, that’s a requirement for a fighter to be moved to the #1 position. They at least have one or two solid wins over top-tier fighters.

It looks like Itauma has been rushed to the top, skipping the part where he’s supposed to beat contenders to earn the #1 ranking. If the idea is to place him rapidly #1 so he can get a fight against Oleksandr Usyk before he retires, it’s a waste of time.

Usyk won’t fight him because he’s only interested in fighting Daniel Dubois and Tyson Fury before he retires. He won’t give an undeserving fighter like Itauma a world title shot.

In tonight’s fight, Itauma (12-0, 10 KOs) destroyed 36-year-old football player Balogun (21-2, 16 KOs), who had never beaten anyone notable. His previous defeat on his resume was a second-round knockout by Murat Gassiev in 2023. This was another example of Itauma matched against a non-contender.

Martin Bakole’s Criticism

“Yeah, he did well, but they got him someone who is a bum,” said Martin Bakole to Boxing Social, reacting to Moses Itauma’s win over Mike Balogun on Saturday night.

“At the high level, they have to give him a good test because this is not Moses that is calling Martin Bakole fighting a bum like this. He needs to fight some quality people and try to test himself if he wants to be a world champion tomorrow.

“I never mention his name. I don’t know who he is,” said Bakole when told that Itauma watched some of his fights and said he looked like trash. “I’m thinking about getting five or six. I don’t know if he’s a top 10, top 20, but he’s a boxer, a heavyweight

Moses Itauma has climbed the WBO rankings with talent, discipline, and electrifying performances. Now the #1 world-rated heavyweight contender, his moment is approaching. It’s only a matter of time before he gets his shot & the world sees a new star emerge. #NewEra @MosesItauma

— Gustavo Olivieri, Esq. (@OlivieriLaw) May 24, 2025