Queensberry promoter Frank Warren took some time to chat with iFL TV about Moses Itauma’s swift knockout win over Dillian Whyte over the weekend, what surprised him about it, and where Itauma could go from here with Turki Alalshikh eyeing a fight between him and Oleksandr Usyk. Check out some of what Warren had to say below.
Warren on Itauma’s knockout of Whyte
“He was sensational. I didn’t expect that, I mean, very short and sweet and I watched it back on the DAZN monitors when we were doing the interviews and he was punch perfect.
All the punches he threw, they connected. He threw great body shots. I mean, he’s a bit of a phenomenon and you don’t want to load a load of weight on someone’s shoulders — and obviously we’re all guilty of hyping fighters, but he delivers. I mean, no one’s ever done that to Dillian, nobody.
“We weren’t worried because we made the fight, we believe in him. But having said that, what did take me a little bit by surprise was the condition that he came in as. When he took his shirt off tonight he looked ripped, didn’t he. He was up for it and he kept him hanging around and he delayed that ring walk or whatever. But he kept his composure, and I keep using that word but that’s what it’s about with him. He’s got a great, great mindset.
“The way he shapes up, the shots he throws, the way he goes about his business — he ain’t 20 years old, he’s like some veteran fighter and I just love watching him. I think he’s an exciting fighter and I think at this stage, 20 years of age, this stage of his career he’s probably the best I’ve been involved with at this stage of his game.”
On Turki Alalshikh wanting Itauma to fight Usyk next
“We’re not going to rush into anything yet and I appreciate that and it’d be a great fight. We’ll see what happens. We’ll have a talk, that would be a fabulous fight…I’m going to talk to the team, talk to the boys. We’re not jumping it, it’s not a pissing contest. What we do, it will be measured and we’ll consider what we’ll do and how we’re going to do it…between us we’ll come up with a solution.”
