WBA Orders Pulev To Defend Title Vs 20-Year-Old Itauma

Queensberry promoter Frank Warren says WBA ‘regular’ heavyweight champion Kubrat Pulev must defend against #1 Moses Itauma next. The WBA has ordered the fight. Warren states that if Pulev (32-3, 14 KOs) chooses to fight Murat Gassiev next on December 12, 2025, he’ll have a problem because the fight hasn’t been sanctioned.

The Convalescent Trail Continues

Age-wise, the 44-year-old Pulev fits more in with the category of older fighters that Moses Itauma has been feasting on since he turned professional in 2023. The 20-year-old Itauma has been raiding the infirmary of the convalescent homes, picking out his prey.

With the hype behind the slow-motion talking Itauma, why is he exclusively matched against older fighters? If he’s the blue-chip prospect that he’s being built up to be, why is he being matched against 40-year-olds? It makes Itauma look suspect, like he’s just smoke and mirrors, manufactured to look like gold, given how he’s being matched.

Itauma’s recent opponents:

• Mariusz Wach: 44 years old
• Mike Balogun: 41
• Dan Garber: 40
• Dillian Whyte: 37

“Pulev has got to fight Moses [Itauma]. That’s been ordered. That’s for the regular [WBA] title. So, that puts him [Itauma] in a good position, and we’re in the process of hopefully getting that sorted out or we go to purse bids,” said promoter Frank Warren to tallkSport Boxing about his plans on lining Moses Itauma up for a title shot against WBA regular heavyweight champion Kubrat Pulev next.

Warren sounds like he’s convinced that Itauma dethroning WBA regular heavyweight champion Pulev is the golden ticket for him to position Moses for a fight against Oleksandr Usyk. That may not work because it’s too easy, and doesn’t require risk on Itauma’s part. Pulev recently lost to journeyman Derek Chisora by a 12-round split decision on July 9, 2022. He looked painfully slow, losing to Chisora.

Itauma’s Easy Route Questioned

“They’ve announced it, but it’s not been sanctioned by the WBA,” said Warren about Pulev defending against Murat Gassiev on December 12, 2025. “And if he [Pulev] goes ahead with that, he’ll have a problem, because they’ve already called for the fight against Moses and have a problem with us.”

Wardley’s Blueprint Ignored

If Warren wanted to strengthen Itauma’s position to get a fight against Oleksandr Usyk, he should have had him follow the same path as Fabio Wardley by fighting top-level fighters, like Joseph Parker and Frank Sanchez.

“We don’t know where we are with that. We have to get it sorted out with Pulev. See where we are first,” said Warren when asked if Itauma is still fighting on December 13th.

DAZN Needs a Fresh Headliner

It would be great for the December 13th Derek Chisora vs. Dillian Whyte trilogy event if Moses Itauma were included on the card as the headliner against 44-year-old Kubrat Pulev, or, preferably, a younger fighter with more talent, like Frank Sanchez.

Given that the December 13th event will be broadcast on DAZN PPV, a viable younger fighter with talent must be in the headliner spot, not the faded journeymen Chisora and Whyte. Pulev is not someone the UK boxing public or U.S. fans are interested in paying to see Itauma fight.