Carl Froch says only one heavyweight has what it takes to beat Moses Itauma

Carl Froch believes Moses Itauma would beat all but one of his heavyweight counterparts, despite the precocious talent being just 21-years-old.

The hard-hitting southpaw comes off a fifth-round stoppage over Jermaine Franklin, scoring a third-round knockdown before delivering a grandstand finish last month.

In doing so, Itauma has firmly placed himself in the world title picture, having secured a mandatory position for Fabio Wardley’s WBO strap.

At the same time, though, a lack of world-class experience makes it difficult to gauge whether he is ready for such a jump in levels, with Wardley, for instance, representing a significant step-up from Franklin.

Elsewhere in the division, bona fide king Oleksandr Usyk is likely to hang around for at least two more fights, granted he beats Dutch kickboxer Rico Verhoeven on May 23.

But again, Usyk represents unfamiliar territory for Itauma, who most notably defeated a faded Dillian Whyte and Demsey McKean prior to facing Franklin.

Because of this, Hall of Famer Froch has said on his YouTube channel Froch On Fighting that he struggles to see how Itauma finds a great deal of success against Usyk.

“If he keeps obliterating his opponents the way he’s doing it, that might be a fight [against Usyk] that happens.

“But I’m not going to give my prediction on that. I think Usyk’s got too much experience – he’d be too good for him – but you just never know, because Moses Itauma looks that good.”

While dismissing his chances in a potential fight with Usyk, Froch went on to name a selection of other heavyweights, including Wardley, Daniel Dubois, Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury, who he suspects would lose to Itauma.

Like Froch, many others predict that Itauma will reign supreme in years to come, just not while Usyk still holds the WBC, IBF and WBA world titles.