While their crossroads showdown is becoming increasingly less likely, Moses Itauma has nonetheless considered whether he would defeat the great Oleksandr Usyk.

The 21-year-old is fighting for one of Usyk’s old belts on August 29, taking on Filip Hrgovic for the vacant IBF world title at London’s O2 Arena.

If he succeeds, Itauma will become the youngest heavyweight champion since Mike Tyson dethroned Trevor Berbick with a two-round demolition in 1986.

The prodigious talent must then defend his title against mandatory challenger Frank Sanchez, who has agreed to wait in the wings for an unspecified lump of step-aside money.

Before that, though, Itauma is expected to encounter his toughest assignment thus far against Hrgovic, whose only defeat came when he was stopped on cuts in round eight of his 2024 contest with Daniel Dubois.

In other words, Hrgovic should determine whether the Brit is capable of competing at world level, where Usyk has represented the leading operator for quite some time.

Even after vacating his three titles, the Ukrainian remains the lineal heavyweight champion following his back-to-back victories over Tyson Fury in 2024.

Since then, however, a subpar performance against former kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven, who he ultimately stopped in round 11 of their May encounter, has signalled that Usyk is closer to retirement than many had anticipated.

As such, the 39-year-old has revealed that he is now approaching his last dance, while Itauma tells DAZN that he remains fully confident in defeating the all-time great.

But while Usyk-Itauma would make for a fascinating spectacle, it is far more likely that the two-division undisputed champion ends up facing Deontay Wilder.