Moses Itauma says he’s not looking past Dillian Whyte when the two meet on Saturday, even if the 20-year-old rising star is a big favorite to win.
“I put the work in and got myself to this stage. I feel like Dillian Whyte is a good contender,” Itauma said at the final press conference. “I have respect for every fighter at this table but it’s just business. For a long time, I didn’t think this fight was going to happen, but we’re here and ready to rock and roll.”
“Honestly, I’m not putting too much
pressure on the outcome of the fight,” he added. “I know my game plan. I know what I need to do. It’s just my job to go in there and execute. Whatever happens Saturday night, let it be.”
Itauma (12-0, 10 KO) does believe the fight can end early, but also knows that can go either way.
“We’re all heavyweights here. Any fight can end at any point. I’m not delusional. I know what threat Dillian Whyte poses. I’m not overlooking him, I’m taking this man seriously.”
The 37-year-old Whyte (31-3, 21 KO) believes he’s got good days ahead in the sport still.
“I have had a few main events, a few pay-per-view fights, but you know there is so much more left for me to achieve and to chase in the game,” he said. “I haven’t really sat back and looked at my career and thought about this and thought about that. I am someone who is not supposed to be here, never had a great amateur career, no support. I am a kid from Jamaica who has been written off many times, meant to be dead before I made it to 20. But here I am, doing stuff, so what more can I say?”
“These two guys wanted to fight each other, they stepped up,” said promoter Frank Warren. “A lot of people were avoiding Moses, a 20 year-old undefeated prodigy at one stage called one of the best prospects in the sport of boxing. He’s firmly established himself. The only man willing to take up the gauntlet was the warrior, Dillian Whyte. We know he always comes to fight, he’s been on the scene a long time, and has fantastic credentials.”
Eddie Hearn, who is promoting Ray Ford on the undercard but doesn’t have direct skin in the game for the main event, believes that Itauma has the momentum going in, but that Whyte is dangerous.
“[I] share a lot of history with [Dillian Whyte],” said Hearn. “Just the little glint in his eye this week. I think his back’s against the wall and I think he’s a very dangerous man when that’s the case. I didn’t think he’d take this fight, but the fact that he took it tells me something. And as good as Moses Itauma is, there’s just a couple of questions that he’s never had to answer and I think this is the man to pose them.”
