By James Hicken

Copyright independent

Two new names have emerged in the race to be Moses Itauma’s next opponent after struggles to find the appropriate match-up ahead of his 13 December return in Manchester.

The Ring’s Mike Coppinger reported on X that the two front-runners are former British champion David Adeleye and Michael Hunter after more highly ranked names were approached.

The post from Coppinger read: “Heavyweight phenom Moses Itauma’s return is being planned for December in the UK. Two names being considered are Michael Hunter and David Adeleye.

“Zhilei Zhang, Jarrell Miller and Filip Hrgovic were all explored. Itauma could be paired with Derek Chisora in separate fights or as the main event of his own show.”

It is looking likely that Itauma and Chisora will share the card rather than the ring, but Itauma’s team have been looking to get him valuable ring experience before an inevitable world title challenge, and all attempts thus far have failed with the Brit having not been taken past two rounds since 2023.

Frank Warren had promised that the next opponent would be a top ten heavyweight, which is technically true of Hunter, who currently sits as the number one contender with the WBA – one spot above Itauma.

Hunter fought three times against low-level opponents in 2024, but is yet to box this year. He beat fellow contender Martin Bakole back in 2018 and shared the ring with Oleksandr Usyk in a losing effort during his time at cruiserweight.

He will therefore have plenty of experience to share with Itauma should they meet.

Adeleye is currently not ranked inside the top 15 by any of the four major sanctioning bodies after his entertaining fight with Filip Hrgovic on the undercard of Itauma vs Whyte in August.

The Brit gave a good account of himself after taking a big step up to face Hrgovic, but suffered a knockdown on the way to a lopsided points decision defeat.

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