Oleksandr Usyk urged to retire from boxing rather than face undefeated starlet by iconic head coach

Oleksandr Usyk seems to have his pick of the bunch at the heavyweight limit in his return; however, he has been warned away from a particular opponent.

Set to be sidelined for some time, undisputed world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk is currently dealing with an undisclosed injury. This is ruling him out of a fight with Joseph Parker for the time being.

• READ MORE — Joseph Parker’s trainer gives interesting update on whether a clash with Oleksandr Usyk is likely to come to fruition

But while a fight with Kiwi veteran Parker has been mooted for some time now, Usyk continues to find himself linked to other opponents in the ring.

Furthermore, former two-fight rival Tyson Fury has recently weighed in on his return to the ring, issuing Usyk a distinct warning about an emerging talent.

Teddy Atlas urges Oleksandr Usyk to retire before Moses Itauma fight

And, namely, another potential foe for Usyk is the fellow unbeaten puncher Moses Itauma, who racked up career win number thirteen over the weekend.

• READ MORE — Tyson Fury contradicts Moses Itauma claim by insisting he’s the only boxer capable of beating Oleksandr Usyk

Scoring a devastating first-round win in his return, Itauma stopped veteran former WBC interim heavyweight champion Dilian Whyte with a hellacious finish in their headliner.

And with the likes of Turki Alalshikh hoping to book a fight between Usyk and Itauma, veteran head coach Teddy Atlas has a different viewpoint when it comes to a potential clash.

“I don’t want to see the Usyk fight [with Itauma],” Atlas said on his YouTube channel. “And I’m very honest about the reasons why. I want to see Usyk go off into the sunset. I’m not saying he can’t beat him.

“I’m not saying that. I won’t go against Usyk with anybody; he’s that special,” Atlas explained. “But I think at this point in his career, after Usyk gets through his next fight, let him go off into the sunset.”

Oleksandr Usyk warned against Moses Itauma showdown

So with the likes of Atlas and former world champion Fury suggesting Itauma is the foil to Usyk’s unbeaten record, a former welterweight titleholder has also voiced his concern.

Gushing over Itauma’s performance against Whyte over the weekend, Harlem Eubank — the cousin of Chris Eubank Jr. — claimed Usyk may struggle quite notably against the Slovak-born prospect.

“He (Moses Itauma) does a lot of stuff that heavyweights don’t do,” Eubank told Seconds Out. “In a lot of ways, he moves like a middleweight.