LONDON, England — Moses Itauma is set for a spot on the Wembley Stadium undercard on July 19 — but neither Martin Bakole nor Joseph Parker will be in the opposite corner.

Itauma marked his first fight of 2025 in typically emphatic fashion, dropping the once-beaten Mike Balogun twice en route to a brutal knockout 46 seconds into Round 2 this past weekend.

And, after waiting six months for that outing, Itauma will be back in action just eight weeks later as he looks set to secure the first undercard slot on the event headlined by Oleksandr Usyk against Daniel Dubois at Wembley.

As a result of his faultless surge over the course of his first two years as a pro, Itauma (12-0, 10 KOs) has been placed at No. 1 in the WBO rankings, moving him ever closer to a shot at the world heavyweight title.

Due to speed and power, Itauma has not gone the distance since July 2023 with his last eight opponents lasting a combined total of just 11 rounds.

His manager Francis Warren has made no secret of his desire to secure the Slovakia-born southpaw some learning rounds, but the kid has made a habit of despatching notoriously durable heavyweights early.

A step-up fight is expected for his prime slot at Wembley Stadium and Martin Bakole, who sat ringside for Saturday’s victory over Balogun, has been mooted. But Itauma’s promoter Frank Warren laughed off those suggestions due to Bakole’s most recent results — a draw against Efe Ajagba and an early defeat to Parker.

“I don’t know why everybody keeps going on about Bakole,” Warren told The Ring on Monday. “He looked terrible in his last fight and he got knocked spark out in the one before that.

“I don’t really know what he is. I look at his list of opponents and he hasn’t really fought anyone so I don’t know where that talk of him fighting Moses has come from.

“And why would I want to give them the money they are asking for? Plus the fact I got a text off his trainer Billy Nelson saying he won’t be ready to fight until December.

“We are not in the Bakole business. We care about Moses Itauma.”

Warren has in the past suggested Parker could be a good fight for his precocious charge, but the New Zealander’s even loftier position with the WBO means a line can be drawn through that one for Wembley, too.

“Parker is the WBO interim champion right now so that won’t happen on July 19,” Warren confirmed. "We couldn’t afford to do it on the undercard at Wembley.

“We could have rolled the dice and got Moses a world title shot, but his career is a marathon not a sprint. I want him to learn his trade, so does Francis and the team, but he is a very capable kid.

“He’s really not far off the world title and when he gets there we want him to stay there. We will look at options for his next opponent in the next week or so.”