Tony Bellew has advised Moses Itauma against facing an opponent who, based on his superior experience, could become the first man to drag him into deep waters.

The heavyweight prodigy already has his hands full, of course, as he will face seasoned veteran Filip Hrgovic at London’s O2 Arena on August 29.

On paper, this is undoubtedly his toughest test thus far, with Hrgovic’s only professional defeat having come via an eighth-round stoppage against Daniel Dubois in June 2024.

Itauma, on the other hand, has never made it past six rounds, but was close to doing so before dispatching Jermaine Franklin with a fifth-round finish in March.

Having cemented himself as a formidable knockout artist, the 21-year-old is now ranked No.1 with both the WBO and WBA, seemingly closing in on a major opportunity.

According to former world champion Bellew, though, the talented southpaw should steer well clear of Oleksandr Usyk, who relinquished his WBC, IBF and WBA belts last month.

Even at the age of 39, and after having to grind out a 11th-round stoppage against Rico Verhoeven in May, the Ukrainian is still the lineal heavyweight champion and, more generally, a generational great.

For this reason, Bellew has told Fight Your Corner that, even at this stage in their careers, Itauma is not ready for an elite competitor like Usyk.

“Moses [shouldn’t] go near him at the minute. I think that it would be absolutely insane to throw Moses Itauma into [an] Usyk [fight] after not going past six [rounds] yet.

“Would you throw a fighter like that in with someone like [Usyk]? [Usyk’s] game plan would be, ‘I have only got to see past six rounds with you, kid. I am going to take you to places that you have never been’.”

While a matchup between Usyk and Itauma has been widely discussed, it does appear that the two southpaws will ultimately go their separate ways.