On Saturday, the 21-year old from Kent passed his toughest test to date by stopping the experienced, tough Jermaine Franklin in the fifth round of their fight at Manchester’s Co-op Live Arena.

Already ranked at No. 7 by The Ring, Itauma (14-0, 12 KOs) entered the fight with Franklin positioned at No. 1 with the WBA and the WBO, No. 3 with the WBC and No. 11 with the IBF.

A win as impressive as Itauma’s usually causes divisional rankings to change, and the WBO quickly made the first move.

Immediately after the fight, WBO president, Gustavo Olivieri, took to X and announced that he will “formally recommend to the Championship committee that Mr Itauma be designated as the Mandatory Challenger in the WBO Heavyweight Division."

Given that Itauma bolstered his high ranking with such an outstanding display against Franklin, the governing body’s decision is totally understandable. It may also open a can of worms.

Itauma and current WBO champion Fabio Wardley train together at the Ben Davison Performance Centre in Essex. Wardley is getting ready to defend his title against Daniel Dubois on May 9.

If Wardley beats Dubois in what is predicted to be a firefight, things could get extremely complicated. That is a problem for another day.

“Let's wait and see what happens on May 9, first of all,” Itauma’s promoter, Frank Warren, said at the post fight press conference. “We don't know what's going to happen, that's the important thing. We'll see where we are. We're not going to make any decisions tonight.

"He’s got lots of different options, and he's in a great place, a 10 round fight tonight, and we sold out.”

A delighted Warren is keen to keep Itauma moving forward and announced that he will return to the ring in July. The Hall of Fame promoter refused to be drawn on a potential opponent but did say that the fight will take place in the UK.

The way that Itauma dealt with the tough Franklin reinforced Warren’s belief that given Itauma’s age and lack of experience, we are witnessing something truly special.

“I can't think of any fighter of his age – and I include Mike Tyson, looking at the guys he fought in his 14th fight – when you look at the quality of the opposition he's fought and what he's done with them, it's amazing,” Warren said.

“And remember he fought as a junior amateur. He never even fought as a senior amateur. Straight into fighting men.”