Suddenly, Oleksandr Usyk vs Moses Itauma Makes All The Sense in The World

I was there the night Moses Itauma stopped the durable Jermaine Franklin. Cooped in the corner on the 1st level inside the Co-Op Live arena in March, I saw firsthand what the hype was about. Itauma was steady and patient, akin to a young child trying to pry open a Kinder Egg without spilling the contents of the toy inside. He kept probing that night, waiting and trying to decipher openings until a sensational uppercut on the inside bludgeoned Franklin and started his rapid demise towards a stoppage in the 5th round.

Moses parted Franklin like the Red Sea. It was the furthest any opponent had taken Itauma to date.

Just two weeks before Itauma’s 14th victory, Oleksandr Usyk went on record and stated, “I said before, I’m not going to fight Itauma because he is a young guy. But I don’t want to break him because this guy likes me.” But optics and hindsight are two beautiful things. When Turki Alalshikh first flirted with the idea of Usyk vs. Itauma, the proposal was criticized and roundly booed, as many believed it was a case of ‘too fast, too soon’ for the upstart Itauma. And this has happened in boxing. Keith Thurman was tamed by Manny Pacquiao. Canelo Alvarez couldn’t land a glove on Floyd Mayweather. Bernard Hopkins tactically undressed Kelly Pavlik despite being at an age disadvantage. Boxing history has been filled with the tales of old, wise grandmasters taming the young lion and proving experience reigns supreme.

But the sport has also been flipped on its end by the beginning of new eras. Oscar de la Hoya stopped the legendary Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. Timothy Bradley was too young, too fresh, too reactive for Juan Manuel Marquez. Rocky Marciano had too much artillery for an old Joe Louis. In as much as the peerless magicians have denied young proteges, the torch has also been brutally snatched by young upstarts from old veterans, often in violent fashion.

Usyk will forever remain a grandmaster of boxing, a human chess piece of a boxer whose footwork is flawless and IQ is otherworldly. He himself has defied the odds – whether that be weight disadvantages, height disadvantages, competing amidst the backdrop of his country in conflict, and even time itself – towards becoming one of the absolute greatest fighters in history. He captured undisputed status at cruiserweight and heavyweight, won the World Boxing Super Series in 2018, has traveled the globe over, fought pretty much everyone, and remains unbeaten. Undoubtedly, Usyk is one of the most important fighters of this generation.

Yet what transpired on Saturday night nearly triggered a seismic shock that could have had significant ramifications for the sport. Rico Verhoeven has had 76 kickboxing fights in his life, won 66 of those, and is widely considered to be one, if not the, greatest kickboxer of all time. He’s only ever had one boxing match in his life, way back in April 2014, which he won by TKO in the 2nd round. These credentials were ostensibly enough for matchmakers to deem him worthy of challenging the heavyweight king of the world with the WBC title at stake. Verhoeven was supposed to get steamrolled. He was meant to play his role as someone with a degree of combat fame, being on the wrong end of a highlight-reel knockout that goes viral, and a tick over for Usyk, whilst the heavyweight scene opens up contenders beyond Agit Kabayel.

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Verhoeven was indeed on the wrong end of a highlight-reel knockout, but everything that had transpired up until that fateful uppercut by Usyk was beyond what anyone could have foretold.

All night in Giza, Verhoeven pressured, harassed, and bullied Usyk into looking remarkably ordinary. You had to see it to believe it. Usyk fought like a man whose legs had finally been caught by the spectre of age, the phantom of Father Time no fighter can ever avoid. It cannot be understated how genuinely ordinary and befuddled with ideas Usyk looked. This was a pound-for-pound-caliber fighter losing rounds at a remarkable rate to a kickboxer. This was a future hall of famer looking like he’d wandered into the abyss and couldn’t seem to find a way out. This was an undefeated and undisputed kingpin whose entire boxing legacy was under serious scrutiny as each round passed. If Usyk somehow lost, he’d forever have the ignominious shame of being the heavyweight champion of the world who was outclassed by a kickboxer. Ultimately, Usyk salvaged his career with a hellacious uppercut that dropped Verhoeven and left him unsteady, before the controversial stoppage came AFTER the bell had rung to end the round.

Boxing will never overcome its criticisms of corruption, and I cannot call them allegations anymore, as these questionable decisions and rogue referees are far too commonplace, with no repercussions whatsoever. The referee robbed Usyk of either a grandstanding, dramatic 12th-round finish or Verhoeven potentially surviving and pulling off the most significant upset in boxing in quite some time.

In the end, fate was in Usyk‘s favor, but it felt like an eerie reminder of Father Time coming into the ring and telling him, ‘Look champ, your legs are gone, it’s time to leave this brutal game with your sense intact, as Terence Crawford did before you.’ I am convinced Usyk’s legs have declined now because this wasn’t a case of the Ukrainian supremo struggling to find his in engine and then taking over midway through the fight – he couldn’t find his legs at all, evident by the manner in which he was repeatedly hammered in rounds 9 and 10, stanzas where Usyk is famed for coming on strong.

And with the final bell, suddenly Usyk vs. Itauma makes all the sense in the world now. It was too one-sided the first time the idea of this mythical match-up was broached, with many, including me, expecting Usyk’s skill and experience to dominate Itauma, as although the handspeed is roughly the same, the footspeed is vastly apart. But his legs have slowed; he stands more upright, and it means Itauma won’t have to go chasing him all night. Usyk will be right there all night, and so will Itauma. This could end up being one last stand for the grandmaster Usyk, or a violent taking of the torch by Itauma. It’s suddenly interesting given the physical decline has somewhat leveled the playing field. Usyk takes grown men into deep waters and drowns them. Itauma has never heard the bell for the start of the 6th round in his entire professional career.

This fight has to happen. We know Kabayel is next, but after that? Give us Usyk vs. Itauma and let’s see whether the future is now … or delayed.

Hamza Ahmed

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