It’s official, Moses Itauma will face Dillian Whyte in his next fight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on August 16.
The brilliant young British heavyweight sensation has blasted his way to a 12-0 pro record, with 10 of those wins coming inside the first two rounds.
Itauma, who is just 20 years old and hails from Chatham in Kent, is the most exciting thing to hit the division since a young Mike Tyson was causing havoc back in the 1980s. He is that good with an intoxicating mix of speed, power and remarkable ring IQ for one so young.
Itauma vs Whyte is a done deal
The manner of Itauma’s victories have had fans banging the table for him to be moved up in class, and now those fans will get their wish when he locks horns with former world title challenger Dillian Whyte (31-3) to top a massive Riyadh Season show on August 16.
Whyte is still a danger to anybody despite being 37 years old now, but he has only fought three times since being knocked out by WBC and lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury at Wembley in April 2022.
Dillian returned after that fight to outpoint tough American Jermaine Franklin (who then took Anthony Joshua the distance) before posting more comfortable wins against Christian Hammer and Ebenezer Tetteh.
Whyte had been expected to figure on the undercard of that Fabio Wardley vs Justis Huni blockbuster in Ipswich last weekend (he manages Wardley as well) but pulled out when it was clear a major fight in August was in the offing.
Now we know just what that fight is, an absolute blockbuster against the division’s next big thing in the shape of the precocious Itauma. Moses by the way is already ranked #1 by the WBO (World Boxing Organization) and an impressive win over Whyte would see him hammering on the door for a potential world title shot.
Undercard looks terrific
As ever with these Riyadh cards, there is strength in depth, and it is not just Itauma vs Whyte that gets the pulse racing.
The co-main event sees Liverpool’s Nick Ball defend his WBA featherweight title against Aussie Sam Goodman, while Belfast banger Anthony Cacace gets another big outing against Raymond Ford at super-featherweight.
There is another big heavyweight showdown on the card as well, with Croatian giant Filip Hrgovic (18-1) taking on Britain’s David Adeleye (14-1).
