Warren Explains Why Itauma Turned Down Frank Sanchez Fight

Frank Warren, head of Queensberry Promotions, has explained why his 20-year-old Heavyweight prospect Moses Itauma declined to take part in the IBF eliminator against Frank Sanchez (25-1, 18 KOs).

“We made that decision because Moses is ranked No.1 with both the WBO and WBA, and we don’t want to lose that position. If we took that fight, we’d lose it. We’re trying to keep our options open. I have a plan for him, but I’m not going to go into details right now.

Until Oleksandr Usyk makes his final decision, we want to ensure Moses is in the right position. A fight with Pulev would have been the right step for us. When that bout was sanctioned, we were happy with it — and the same goes for the WBO. So that’s where we stand right now,” Warren said.

After several withdrawals from other fighters, Frank Sanchez was instead matched against Daniel Dubois, with the final fight date yet to be confirmed.

Moses Itauma will return to the ring on January 24 against Jermaine Franklin.