The Problem With Convenience
Wardley is looking at Derek Chisora as a possible first defense. Tyson Fury called him out after announcing his return. Those are names that sell tickets and make sense for a spring date. Itauma was supposed to fight Jermaine Franklin on January 24, but an injury pushed that back to March 28.
Warren is working fast. Oleksandr Usyk holds the Ring Magazine title and the other three major belts. A fight with Usyk seems unlikely for Itauma right now. That leaves Wardley as the only realistic target for a quick title shot.
But Wardley is not interested in being part of the schedule.
“Don’t get me wrong, I want to see him do well, kick on and smash that record as well but just not with my belt,” Wardley said. “Obviously I understand the interest from everyone wanting to look at us and see our two styles, see us as two fighters and say ‘yep, that’d be a great matchup’. But right now, nothing like that is going to come together just because of circumstance.”
When Timing Breaks Down
Wardley’s reasoning is patient. He believes the fight only happens when both men hold multiple titles and need to settle who runs the division. That could be years away.
“Ultimately, there’s still a lot out there for both of us to tick off before we ever need to really seriously have a look at each other,” he said. “I know I’ve got one world title and he’s hoping to pick up another, but that still leaves two others out there as well to go grab. So look, maybe once I’ve got two and he’s got two, then maybe we need to have a serious conversation about it.”
The problem is the record Warren is chasing does not wait. July is the deadline. If Itauma misses Franklin in March and needs another fight before a title shot, the window closes. Wardley’s plan assumes everyone can afford to wait. Warren’s timeline says otherwise.
Itauma has 19 knockouts in 13 fights. He hits hard enough to scare better opponents than Franklin. Wardley has one loss on his record if you count the draw with Frazer Clarke as half of one. He is learning what it means to hold a title when someone younger and faster is coming up behind you.
The gym relationship complicates it. Training next to someone makes it harder to sell the fight later. But it also makes it harder to avoid. If Itauma keeps winning and Warren keeps pushing, Wardley’s options narrow.
