Fans Rip Itauma As WBA Orders Fight With 44-Year-Old Pulev

#1-ranked Moses Itauma and WBA ‘regular’ heavyweight champion Kubrat Pulev have been ordered by the sanctioning body to begin negotiations for a fight. The deadline for a deal to be agreed on is November 14th.

Fans are already criticizing Itauma today over the news of the WBA ordering him and Pulev to fight. They’re predicting that Itauma will take the fight to win a belt without risking a loss.

Another Aging Opponent

If I were Itauma, I wouldn’t take the fight because it’s meaningless. But given Itauma’s track record for fighting older guys to build his unbeaten, this fight is so him.

It’s the perfect situation for the 20-year-old Itauma (13-0, 11 KOs) 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 possesses the prestigious WBA title is Oleksandr Usyk.

The 44-year-old Pulev (32-3, 14 KOs) fits the category of the type of opposition the Queensberry-promoted Itauma has been fighting since he turned pro in 2023. Three of his opponents have been in their 40s, and many have been in their mid-30s.

It’s unclear whether Itauma will go along with the WBA’s order to fight Pulev. If he takes the fight, it’s going to be a bad look for him, given that he recently opted not to agree to an IBF title eliminator to battle Frank Sanchez. Fighting Pulev would make Itauma look like he’s being maneuvered into a title.

If Itauma is as good as his fans and promoters have hyped him up to be, it’s pointless for him to fight Pulev to become the WBA secondary champion.

Still No Step-Up

What Itauma should have done was fight Sanchez to show that he’s the real thing, not the hype job that some boxing fans suspect him to be. It’s hard not to view Itauma in that light when one looks at the lower-level opposition he’s faced as a pro.

There should have been a step-up opponent by this point to test whether Itauma is the goods, but there hasn’t been one. That’s a red flag. The Sanchez fight or the Filip Hrgovic fight would have been perfect match-ups for Moses to prove he’s not as fake as some fans think.

Since 2015, Olly Campbell has brought readers clear ringside perspective and a steady voice on boxing’s biggest nights.