Moses Itauma now first in line to face new heavyweight champion after devastating one punch KO

Moses Itauma could soon find himself challenging for a version of the heavyweight title.

Itauma has been tipped for big things in the sport, having put together an unbeaten record of 13-0 with 11 knockouts in his career so far.

He was last in action in August when he needed less than two minutes to knock out former world title challenger Dillian Whyte, and will return in January when he takes on Jermaine Franklin in Manchester.

Itauma agreed to face Franklin on the condition that he would then be next in line to challenge the winner of the WBA Regular heavyweight title fight between Kubrat Pulev and Murat Gassiev, which took place in Dubai on Friday.

It was Gassiev who prevailed in that contest, knocking Pulev out in the sixth round to win the belt, having previously been unified cruiserweight world champion.

The moment Murat Gassiev FLATTENED Kubrat Pulev 👀pic.twitter.com/Zj5QbuVSEt

— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) December 12, 2025

While Gassiev holds the Regular version of the WBA belt, the full version is still held by Oleksandr Usyk, who is also in possession of the WBC and IBF titles. The Ukrainian did recently vacate his WBO strap, allowing Fabio Wardley to be elevated from interim status to full champion.

A fight between Usyk and Itauma has also been touted by some fans, but the Ukrainian has played down the contest and instead opted to call out former WBC Champion Deontay Wilder. There may be a situation where he is not granted that defence by the WBA, meaning Itauma could well challenge Gassiev for the full belt if things play out that way.