It took Moses Itauma less than two minutes to pass his latest test, as the 20-year-old heavyweight prospect thrashed Dillian Whyte for a first round knockout win in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Itauma (13-0, 11 KO) overwhelmed the 37-year-old Whyte pretty much immediately, first with his speed and then with the power that came behind it, wobbling the veteran badly before putting him down.
Whyte got up to his feet, but referee had already counted the former title challenger out, seeing and reasoning that Whyte was
in no shape to continue. Whyte did protest a bit, but he was on visibly unsteady legs.
Whyte (31-4, 21 KO) likely hoped to push the fight into the second half, as Itauma still has not gone past six rounds as a professional, but the rising star clearly had no intention of letting that happen. He’d said pre-fight that he wasn’t going to press for a knockout, and he didn’t, really, as this came pretty easily.
It’s been some years since Whyte was a legitimate top 10 contender in the division, but he was still the toughest on-paper test of Itauma’s young career, and Itauma has proven that he is certainly beyond the level of today’s Dillian Whyte.
Itauma thanked Whyte for “the opportunity to showcase (his) skills,” as Whyte left the ring, having shaken Itauma’s hand.
“To be honest, I saw he was doing exactly what Ben (Davison) told me he would do, but the fight nerves kicked in,” he said. “After, like, the first minute, I said, ‘OK, cool, I keep seeing this happen, I can’t miss it.’ Executed the game plan.”
“What’s next, what’s next, what’s next?” Itauma asked. “Honestly, I’ll fight anyone they put in front of me.”
With some in the crowd shouting for Oleksandr Usyk, Itauma replied, “If I’m completely honest, Joseph Parker and (Agit) Kabayel do deserve the shot (against Usyk), but I’d love to take the opportunity, as well. Chuck me in there with that lot.”
There are more tests to come, more rungs to climb up the ladder, even short of Usyk. Filip Hrgovic, who won earlier on the show over David Adeleye, may be a proper next opponent for Itauma, and there’s also been talk of top contender and ex-titlist Parker, should Usyk be stripped of the WBO title for failing to face Parker as has been ordered.
What do you want to see next for Itauma, and how far do you think he’ll be able to go?
