Barry McGuigan believes one man could be the undoing of Oleksandr Usyk if he decides to stick around in the heavyweight division.

Usyk is unbeaten in his professional career. The generational great was undisputed down at cruiserweight and, when he moved up, scored two victories over Tyson Fury, two over Anthony Joshua and two over Daniel Dubois, becoming a two-time undisputed heavyweight ruler.

Where he goes after his latest fifth round stoppage of Dubois is unclear, with him previously making it clear he has one fight left. Mandatory challenger Joseph Parker awaits, but the Ukrainian has also said he would be open to trilogy bouts with the likes of Fury, ‘AJ’ or even Derek Chisora.

Boxing powerbroker Turki Alalshikh has publicly stated he wants Usyk to defend his status against rising star Moses Itauma, however, speaking to Seconds Out, Hall of Fame fighter McGuigan advised Usyk to avoid the 20-year-old prospect, who has knocked out Mariusz Wach, Demsey McKean and Mike Balogun in his last three outings, all inside the first two rounds.

“I think the kid that is coming through that is very spectacular is Moses Itauma. He’s very special. He’s fast, he’s a southpaw, he blows guys out. There’s a question mark over his stamina because he hasn’t really had to go that far in a fight, but he’s very special.

“I really wouldn’t want to see Usyk fighting someone as quick and as young and full of vitality as Itauma is right now. If he wants to fight Tyson Fury again, fine. If he wants to fight Joshua again, fine, but don’t hang around too long. Don’t fight the young lions coming up.

“Moses has another year of development before he fights for the top prize. But he is very special. He’s very good, he’s going to be very dangerous in the future as he gets more mature, gets more rounds under his belt.”

A win for Itauma against Dillian Whyte in August – a good step-up – could well catapult him into world title contention much sooner than anyone expected, though his path is unlikely to cross with the great Ukrainian as things stand.

Should Usyk vacate the belt, Itauma, as WBO number one, would be ordered to face mandatory challenger Parker for the title.