Moses Itauma vs Dillian Whyte: Young star ready to rumble with the Body Snatcher?

‘The Future of Heavyweight Boxing’ takes yet another step-up in levels this weekend, 16 August in Saudi Arabia.

All eyes will be on 20-year-old heavyweight prodigy, Moses Itauma, as he aims to prove he’s the real deal against world title contender Dillian Whyte, live on DAZN.

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Will the exciting prospect back up the hype surrounding him or will the likes of Dillian Whyte be too much, too soon for the young buck? Let’s find out!

Tale of the tape: Moses Itauma vs Dillian Whyte

Moses Itauma: ‘The Future of Heavyweight Boxing’

The speed and power of this undefeated heavyweight prospect is both exciting and terrifying at the same time, back in January we floated he will be primed for a top ranked fight this year, and this could be his gateway to title opportunities.

From Chatham, Kent, Itauma is tipped to become heavyweight boxing’s next biggest star. The southpaw is incredibly explosive and powerful, but is also intelligent, has perfect technique, a great shot selection, good feet and movement, incredible reflexes, one-punch knockout power… it’s probably far quicker to list what he hasn’t got going for him.

He won his pro debut in January 2023 in just 23 seconds. His opponent, Marcel Bode, possessed a winning record, but as soon as he felt the power of Itauma, he was soon counted out.

His 10 knockouts have all come within the first two rounds, which proves just how explosive he is.

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His recent fights have seen him take very careful steps up, firstly with the experienced German, Ilja Mezencev, then the Polish veteran, Mariusz Wach, then came his biggest test so far against highly-rated Australian, Demsey McKean.

Despite it being seen as a potential banana skin, Moses obliterated McKean in devastating fashion in under two minutes.

His last fight against American Mike Balogun saw him drop the 21-1 heavyweight three times to win in the second round. Each knockdown came differently and impressively. However, the former NFL player was 41-years-old and wasn’t expected to offer much.

According to promoter, Frank Warren, there has been a significant lack of willing opponents to answer the call. Derek Chisora being one of those who happily admitted he turned down £2 million to fight Itauma.

But Dillian Whyte did answer the call, luckily for fight fans, who are now in for a real treat as a storm begins to brew in the desert.

Dillian Whyte: Will the ‘Body Snatcher’ be too much, too soon for Itauma?

The Jamaican-born Brixton ‘Body Snatcher’ has won British and WBC Interim world titles. He famously stayed stuck at WBC #1 in the heavyweight rankings for over 1,000 days.

However, when Whyte got his shot at the famous green and gold, he wasn’t able to perform and was brutally knocked out in round six by Tyson Fury, in front of over 90,000 spectators at Wembley.

He does possess some very good scalps on his record though, with wins over Dave Allen, Derek Chisora, Joseph Parker, Oscar Rivas and Alexander Povetkin.

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Whyte has respectable power, his hooks to head and body are powerful and effective.

He moves and blocks awkwardly, often using a cross guard, making him a difficult target to tag clean, but he, of course, has been tagged clean before, knocked out three times by Anthony Joshua, Kubrat Pulev and Tyson Fury, each time by an uppercut, a punch he is incredibly susceptible to.

He can roll punches, allowing him to counter with big hooks, but it’s those big hooks which will see him open up to the elements, and the opponent in front of him will be able to take advantage of any opening within the blink of an eye.

Moses Itauma vs Dillian Whyte: The key factors

Whyte has a wealth of experience to draw upon. Which may mean that Itauma will take a few rounds to warm into the contest, sensing that the man in front of him is more powerful, dangerous, skillful and capable than any other opponent he has so far shared a professional ring with.

Whyte has his powerful hooks that he can land with weight to body and head, but they don’t come in that quick. So Itauma should be able to evade or block those danger shots by using his quick reactions and reflexes. 

And not only that, the quick youngster should be able to counter someone who throws such wide, slower swings to land accurately and cleanly on Whyte.

Itauma hasn’t yet had his chin tested, mostly because of his defensive abilities, where he has quick feet and perpetual movement, a bit like Usyk. Itauma doesn’t linger for any length of time, he’s always on the move. 

He uses his southpaw right hand to defend against attacks, also to line up the big back hand and to bait his opponents and keep them off their rhythm. All of these techniques and tactics make him hard to hit.

Whyte will have to turn this contest into a dogfight by not allowing the cleverer, quicker fighter any room and sitting on his chest to make it more of a 50-50 scrap and war of attrition.

Whyte hasn’t fought many southpaws in his career. In his world title shot at Tyson Fury, the champion switched to southpaw at times and caused the challenger issues. 

Itauma will have studied this and most certainly be able to use his unorthodox stance to his advantage.

The 20-year-old has an intelligence and maturity beyond his years, which will become very evident in this fight with Whyte.

Fans can expect to see some highlight moments as Itauma shows just what he’s capable of when at the highest level.

FIRST’s’ top tip for Moses Itauma vs Dillian Whyte

It’s a big step-up for the young lion, but I believe he is going to justify the hype and land heavily on Whyte very early on and finish the fight moments later – Moses Itauma to win the fight by knockout between rounds 1-6.

Pick: Moses Itauma to win in rounds 4-6 @ 7/4 with Betway

Extra tips 

Pick: Moses Itauma to win by knockout in rounds 1-3 @ 2/1 with Betway 

Pick: Nick Ball to defeat Sam Goodman by knockout in round 10 @ 12/1 with Betway

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Odds correct at the time of writing.