By Sam Brookes

Copyright independent

Moses Itauma’s trainer has revealed a former Anthony Joshua rival has rejected the chance to fight the 20-year-old heavyweight sensation.

Itauma knocked out Dillian Whyte inside a round last month and is targeting a return to the ring in December against a top 10 opponent.

Filip Hrgovic emerged as the early frontrunner to face Itauma after winning on his undercard in Saudi Arabia, but promoter Frank Warren claimed recently the Croat has priced himself out of the fight.

Itauma’s coach, Ben Davison, has now stated that American heavyweight Jermaine Franklin has also ruled himself out of taking on the Brit.

Asked about potential fights with Hrgovic and Franklin, Davison told Sky Sports: “Those are the two on everybody’s lips. They’re not interested, and it’s the same for pretty much all of them, so it’s difficult. It’s difficult to get these opponents at this moment in time. They’re not interested; they don’t want to play ball.

“They just want so much money to box him; it’s hard to get the opponents.”

Franklin fought Joshua back in April 2023 as the two-time heavyweight champion looked to get his career back on track after consecutive losses to Oleksandr Usyk.

Joshua won a comfortable decision over 12 rounds, handing Franklin his second straight defeat after he was controversially outpointed by Whyte the previous year.

Franklin has since bounced back to win his last three fights, with his latest victory coming on the undercard of Terence Crawford’s clash with Canelo Alvarez earlier this month.

But, according to Davison, he is not keen on pursuing a fight with Itauma before the end of the year.

Itauma has been touted as a future opponent for Usyk, with Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh pushing for the fight to be made.

Davison would welcome a clash with the undisputed heavyweight king, but Itauma needs to remain active in the meantime.

Davison, who also trains Joshua and Fabio Wardley, wants to see Itauma challenged but admitted it is not easy finding a suitable opponent and suggested the team may need to widen their search for his next foe.

“The next fight, if we can pull something off and get somebody like that (Hrgovic or Franklin), we’re all for that,” he added. “That’s what we’re after, the same as everybody else.

“But if not, I suppose we’ll have to drop down a level and try again in the new year, maybe.”

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