Promoters praise fighters, especially the ones they promote. That’s a big part of the job. But the heavy praise that Frank Warren has for heavyweight prospect Moses Itauma is ringing true after the 20-year-old dispatched Dillian Whyte in under two minutes today.
Warren, who’s been in the game a long, long time, says Itauma (13-0, 11 KO) is one of the finest talents he’s worked with in his career.
“He’s done everything that’s been asked of him, and it’s how he’s done it. He’s the most unbelievable finisher
— he catches you, you’re in trouble,” Warren said after the fight. “If you look at the three (prior) losses on Dillian’s record, it’s world champions, I mean real good, quality fighters, guys who have been at the top of the game. One round, (Itauma) caught him.”
Whyte’s prior losses came to rising star Anthony Joshua in 2015, Alexander Povetkin in 2020 (which was avenged), and Tyson Fury in 2022.
“I was surprised (how easy it was),” Warren continued. “I thought it’d be a bit longer than that, but he done it in style. He’s a phenomenal finisher.
“He catches you, and he doesn’t get flustered. He gets space on his shots, he doesn’t fall into his opponent. Every shot he throws is a hurtful punch, and it’s a well-measured punch. He’s an unbelievable boxing talent, probably one of the best at this stage of his career I’ve ever been involved with.”
Itauma said after the bout that he would be willing to enter the sweepstakes to face Oleksandr Usyk next, though he also admitted that he feels Joseph Parker and Agit Kabayel deserve shots at the undisputed champion. Usyk has been ordered by the WBO to face Parker, who could also be a potential next opponent for Itauma with the WBO belt at stake, if Usyk is forced to vacate or is stripped for being unable or unwilling to do that fight in the time frame the WBO wants.
Itauma also, notably, did pull back a bit and say that his team do believe he could use more rounds before chasing a really big challenge like Usyk, which is incredibly reasonable given that Itauma is 20 and has never gone past the sixth round.
