Moses Itauma has been linked to a fight with the undisputed heavyweight champion, but Amir Khan is unsure it would be the right move.
Fans were raving about the stunning knockout in the first round of his fight against Dillian Whyte, and even those involved in making matchups were confident of his ability to compete at the top of the division.
Boxing financier Turki Alalshikh said he wanted to get Itauma in the ring with Oleksandr Usyk next, following his victory.
Usyk has not competed since his knockout win over Daniel Dubois in July and was ordered to fight Joseph Parker for the WBO title, but has asked for a 90-day extension due to an injury.
‘Don’t rush’- Amir Khan speaks on Moses Itauma’s world title hopes and the potential Oleksandr Usyk fight
The 20-year-old sensation could face Parker for the full WBO heavyweight title if the Ukrainian vacates, as the star currently holds the top spot in the organisation’s ranking system.
A fight with Usyk is unlikely to happen, given that he is nearing the end of his boxing career, while Itauma is only just getting started in the sport.
Khan is familiar with dealing with young stardom when he came out of the Olympics in 2004 and turned professional, even though he has told ‘The Wrecking Ball’ and his team to wait before a shot at the de facto best heavyweight in the world.
In an interview with Boxing Social, the former super lightweight champion said: “No. You don’t want to rush him. You want to take it easy. You want to take it slow. Don’t rush him. Let him enjoy.”
“He’s still 20 years old. Let him get to 22, 23 years old. That’s when you start putting him in with the top names in boxing.
“What if he wins a world title at 21? What’s he going to do then? He (will) go backwards.”
The difference is in experience. Itauma has still not made it past six rounds in a professional contest, whereas the former undisputed cruiserweight champion has fought longer than the sixth round on 18 occasions.
Instead of chasing the 38-year-old boxer, ‘King Khan’ wants to see the prospect take on two other top heavyweights to prove his worth in the sport.
“I think great fight. I was just talking to Joseph Parker in the back, and I said that’d be a great fight for you. Zhang is a good fighter as well,” Khan said.
“You don’t want to fight Usyk. I think it’s too early for that. Why are you going to spoil someone’s career?
“You can’t just throw him in the deep end, where he wins a world title, but then he loses the next fight. He’ll always be a young world champion. He’s a great fighter as well.”
Moses Itauma stopped Dillian Whyte quicker than Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua
The comparisons to other modern British heavyweight greats are interesting, considering the prodigy now has a common opponent with Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.
Whyte has lost three times in his career, all by knockout or stoppage, before the loss to Itauma.
Before the loss, Alexander Povetkin was the quickest to the finish with a brutal uppercut knockout of the Londoner in the fifth round during the pandemic.
| Fighter | Round | Time of stoppage in the round |
| Moses Itauma | 1 | 1 minute 59 seconds |
| Alexander Povetkin | 5 | 30 seconds |
| Tyson Fury | 6 | 2 minutes 59 seconds |
| Anthony Joshua | 7 | 1 minute 27 seconds |
But now the first-round finish means Moses holds the record, surpassing Fury’s seventh-round and Joshua’s sixth-round victory.
While it would be interesting to see a passing of the torch moment in a fight with either man for the next heavyweight division star, AJ is unlikely due to having the same trainer, and Tyson has previously said he would not fight him.