Moses Itauma faced a step up in class when he took on Dillian Whyte in an intriguing heavyweight showdown in Saudi Arabia
Moses Itauma confirmed himself the future of the heavyweight division by destroying Dillian Whyte inside two minutes.
Itauma has long been hailed as a champion in waiting and British hopes may rest on his broad shoulders after Daniel Dubois’ KO defeat by Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua’s advancing years. Having stopped 10 of his previous 12 opponents, Itauma had been expected to face a tougher challenge in Whyte.
But the 20-year-old wasted no time in taking the fight to his fellow countryman with his speed causing problems for the elder statesman. And it was a left hook – his opponent’s own deadly weapon in years gone by – which started the finishing sequence before the same shot with the opposite hand dumped Whyte on the canvas. Although he beat the count, the 37-year-old was unsteady on his feet, forcing the referee to step in.
Whyte had forced Itauma to wait in the ring for almost six minutes as he delayed his walk too the square circle – much to the annoyance of the young man’s trainer Ben Davison. But if Itauma had been irked, he did not show it as he started quickly and finished with aplomb.
The Brit could now be catapulted into a world title shot against Joseph Parker if Oleksandr Usyk opts not to fight the Kiwi and is stripped of his WBO title. Asked if he can see himself being crowned champion before the end of the year, Itauma said: “If I get the opportunity, I will be 100 per cent. ‘Honestly, I’ll fight anybody they put in front of me. Shout out a name and I’ll be there. Joseph Parker and Agit Kabayel do deserve the shot… I’m ranked No.1 with the WBO, Parker is also with that so that’s a good fight.
‘Honestly, I’ll fight anybody they put in front of me. Shout out a name and I’ll be there. All these fights can happen, so it’s bigger and better. What’s next? I’m only 20 years old, I’ve got 10 or 15 years left, so there’s going to be a lot of this face for years.”
On the undercard, Nick Ball retained his featherweight world title after a thrilling clash with Sam Goodman. The Liverpudlian, Britain’s only male world champion, dug deep in the latter stages to overcome Goodman who had produced a composed display in his first world title fight.
David Adeleye was beaten by Filip Hrgovic in a heavyweight thriller which saw the Croatian recover from suffering a horrible cut above his right eye. He dropped the Brit in the eighth round but Adeleye bounced back up to almost stop Hrgovic with a stunning response. Ultimately, Hrgovic was given the nod as he continued his comeback from his defeat by Daniel Dubois last summer.
Former featherweight world champion Raymond Ford continued his unbeaten stint at super-featherweight with a points win over Abraham Nova while Saudi’s own Mohammed Alakel stopped Yumnam Santosh Singh in the opening round. Finally, Hayato Tsutsumi stopped Qais Ashfa in the third round to remain unbeaten after eight professional fights.