Wardley rejects potential bout against Itauma, retaining WBO title defense options

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WBO heavyweight champion Fabio Wardley has again ruled out a fight with stablemate Moses Itauma, insisting that sharing a trainer and a gym makes the bout an impossibility at this stage of their careers, regardless of any mandatory challenger designation from the sanctioning body.

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Wardley, who defends his WBO title against Daniel Dubois this summer, said nothing has changed in his thinking despite the WBO’s Gustavo Olivieri recently indicating he would recommend Itauma be formally designated as the division’s mandatory challenger following the 21-year-old’s stoppage victory over Jermaine Franklin.

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“My stance on the Itauma fight hasn’t changed. Look, I’m still in the same gym with him; I’m still next to him; we’ve still got the same trainer and stuff,” Wardley told The Ring.

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“So right now, as of this moment, it’s still an impossibility. It’s still not going to work, WBO mandatory or not. I think that’s something for much further down the road.”

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Both fighters are trained by Ben Davison and spar regularly, a familiarity that Wardley believes makes a fight between them difficult to justify while his title reign is still in its early stages. His stated ambitions also point in a different direction, with the WBO champion focused on the division’s biggest names in Oleksandr Usyk, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.

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Olivieri had stopped short of setting a firm timeline.

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“If the committee votes, which I presume and expect, Moses will be designated as the mandatory. Now, the question is when will the mandatory be enforced? That remains to be seen; it could be called immediately after the Wardley-Dubois fight or thereafter,” he told ThaBoxingVoice.

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Itauma himself has left the door open, though he acknowledged the complications. “If I win, I fight the winner. I mean, yeah, if Frank Warren allows it, they’re all cool Queensberry boys. If Fabio wins, then we’re at the same gym. It might be a bit awkward, but obviously if Dubois wins, it’ll probably be more likely to happen,” he told Ariel Helwani.

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The British-Nigerian prospect is meanwhile preparing for a headline appearance at the O2 Arena on July 25, with an opponent yet to be announced. His promoter Frank Warren has promised a significant test, describing the forthcoming bout as a “big, big fight” in keeping with the rapid trajectory of a fighter who is now ranked number one by both the WBO and WBA.

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Itauma’s win over Franklin drew particular attention, given that neither Anthony Joshua nor Dillian Whyte had previously been able to stop the American.

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