Dubois Wants Moses Itauma Next Before the Grudge Goes Stale

Daniel Dubois has a name in mind for his next fight, and it belongs to the 21-year-old everyone's been tipping to run the division. Fresh off retaining his WBO title with an 11th-round stoppage of Fabio Wardley last weekend, the 29-year-old champion told Sky Sports he wants Moses Itauma sooner rather than later — before their domestic rivalry drifts into the same holding pattern that swallowed Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua for years.

Timing is the wrinkle. Itauma, 14-0 with 12 knockouts, is coming off the first real setback of his career: a ninth-round stoppage loss to Filip Hrgovic back in August, a fight the youngster was largely winning. He dropped Hrgovic in the second and dominated stretches of it before his gas tank betrayed him and the veteran forced a late finish. That result handed Hrgovic the vacant IBF belt and cost Itauma his shot at becoming the youngest heavyweight champ since Mike Tyson.

The Comeback Comes First

According to promoter Frank Warren, Itauma is slated to return early next year, likely in January. Don't expect him straight back into deep water. The smart money says a mid-tier opponent first, a chance to shake off the loss and rebuild, before any step back up to world level. His last win before the Hrgovic defeat was a fifth-round stoppage of Jermaine Franklin, so the finishing power hasn't gone anywhere.

Dubois, for his part, wasn't interested in burying Itauma over the defeat. He framed the Hrgovic loss as a lesson rather than a failing, essentially saying there's always someone out there with more will and more to fight for. The champion insists he's reached a stage where he can break anyone down, and promised to smash up whoever he shares a ring with next.

What the Numbers Say

On paper, Dubois would start a clear favourite, and experience is the obvious reason. He's now a two-time world champion with 22 knockouts in 23 wins, and he's shown he can close the show against live opposition — Wardley came in 20-1-1 with 19 KOs of his own and still got stopped. Itauma remains the division's #6 and the brighter long-term prospect at #6 in the rankings, but the Hrgovic fight exposed questions about his stamina over championship rounds.

The appeal here is obvious: two British heavyweights, a 21-year-old wrecking ball against an established champion, and a window to make it before it curdles. Dubois clearly doesn't want to repeat the Fury-Joshua mistake of letting a fight marinate until it's half the bout it should have been. First, though, Itauma has to get through January and prove the Hrgovic night was a blip, not a ceiling.