Paulie Malignaggi has spoken out on where Moses Itauma may struggle on his rise to the top of the heavyweight division.
Malignaggi heaped praise on Itauma’s ability and potential to rise to the top, but there was one problem he identified.
Itauma continues to impress each time he enters the ring, with an impressive 10 stoppage wins on the spin.
He was last in action in March when he faced the seasoned Jermaine Franklin Jr., having recovered from a bicep tear.
He dropped ‘989 Assassin’ in the third and stopped him in the fifth round with a devastating uppercut.
Itauma announced himself on the world stage one year ago to the week against Dillian Whyte, whom he dismantled in the first round while headlining for the first time in his career.
Malignaggi spoke to talkSPORT about what could be the stumbling block in the way of the 21-year-old.
“I think Itauma has the potential to be the future of the sport and-old.
“I think Itauma has the potential to be the future of the sport and the future of the division.
“But without being able to fight these big names, it’s going to slow down his rise to popularity.
“He’ll have a rise to stardom and become a champion, but he has to try and get the old generation of fighters in the ring with him.”
He continued by comparing the new crop of heavyweight fighters to the older generation and explained how the way fights are made within the new generation is encouraging.
“I think the new generation can be a lot of fun.
“I don’t like where the old generation moves on by themselves and just fights each other.
“They need to be fighting each other and there needs to be a changing of the guard between the two generations.”
With two-time undisputed world champion Oleksandr Usyk vacating the belts, that appears to be a fight Itauma will struggle to land.
Tyson Fury has also stated he would not be interested in facing the 21-year-old from London.
Malignaggi finished by emphasising the issue with the current structure between generations at the peak of the sport.
“They all start fighting each other and retire together, and the new guys have less notoriety yet are the best fighters in the world.”
Itauma returns to the ring at the end of the month as he takes on Fillip Hrgovic on August 29 as he attempts to become IBF world champion.
