Rather than engage in calls, Wardley pointed to the speed of Itauma’s rise and the tendency of fans to go too fast with younger fighters.
“We as boxing fans, we like to get carried away by a story or a person, someone so young who does so much,” said Wardley speaking to The Stomping Ground about the fans pushing for a fight with Itauma right now. “Early doors, it’s like, ‘let’s slow down.’
A smart play by Wardley to keep the focus where it belongs. While it’s clear that Moses Itauma is the shiny new heavyweight, looking at Daniel Dubois on May 9th would be a big mistake.
Wardley is right about the fans and the media coming first. We see a young knockout artist and immediately want to see them join the elite, but there is a real danger of burning out hope before they reach the top. Itauma is only 21 years old, and as Wardley notes, “validation” needs to come naturally through cycles and experience, not just trickery.
If Wardley doesn’t get past Dubois at Co-Op Live, his favorites about Itauma are second. A loss to Dubois could put Wardley back in a position where he may need to fight a rising name like Itauma to regain his position.
Both Wardley and Itauma were trained by Ben Davison and fought under Frank Warren’s Queensberry banner. Wardley talked a lot about how training “side-by-side” in the same gym makes matching almost impossible at this point. It creates an awkward situation where their trainer will have to choose a side or walk away, which neither fighter seems willing to force.
Wardley focuses on the biggest names in the sport, Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, and Oleksandr Usyk. In his opinion, Moses Itauma is a 21-year-old “hope” (albeit a scary one).
Although the world of boxing is high on Itauma after his 5th-round destruction of Jermaine Franklin, Wardley feels that he has already paid his dues by beating Joseph Parker and Justis Huni. He doesn’t see the benefit of putting his belt on the line for a young powerhouse coming out of his gym when he’s chasing undisputed status.
Wardley proposed a specific scenario for the Itauma war: Integration. He recently commented that they should both go out, collect world titles, and then meet when things are at their peak.
“Maybe when I have two and he has two, maybe we will have to have a serious discussion about it,” said Fabio about Itauma.
Wardley can’t look at Itauma because he has a big fight ahead of him on May 9. Dubois is a heavy, top-class fighter fresh off a fight with Anthony Joshua. If Wardley loses that fight on Co-Op Live, his “WBO Champion” status disappears, and the WBO may simply order Itauma (his #1 contender) to fight for the title against whoever wins.
It’s a combination of loyalty in the gym and Wardley defending his hard-earned seat at the top table. He wants Itauma to “grow” into the role so the fight makes more financial and historical sense.
