Moses Itauma’s trainer makes ‘dog fight’ admission ahead of Dillian Whyte fight

Itauma faces the toughest test of his career on Saturday night, but the Brit’s coach is fully confident his star pupil can get the job done

Moses Itauma’s trainer Ben Davison admits the heavyweight star has got it in his locker to emerge victorious should the Dillian Whyte clash descend into a dog fight.

The 20-year-old faces the toughest test of his career so far against Whyte – a heavyweight veteran – on Saturday night in the Middle East. The Brit is a real superstar in the making after announcing himself on the world stage back in 2024 after brutally knocking out Mariusz Wach.

Itauma has since gone on to defeat Demsey McKean and Mike Balogun – both via knockout. Both Oleksandr Usyk and Lennox Lewis have backed the young heavyweight contender to achieve great things. With just 12 fights under his belt, it is only a matter of time before he goes head-to-head with some of the top names at heavyweight.

Despite all the hype, he is still yet to be tested inside the squared-circle. Many within the boxing community wonder how Itauma would fare when dragged into deep waters. But his trainer, Davision, believes his pupil is capable of thriving under real pressure in the ring.

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Itauma was seen showing off his incredible hand speed at the open workouts on Wednesday evening in Saudi Arabia. Speaking on the DAZN broadcast, Davison broke down Whyte’s threat to his man. “Moses Itauma is not the type of fighter where we have to bank on people catching people at the right time.

“He is good enough to mix with any of them at any point, and we have prepared for Dillian to turn up… the best Dillian possible, and if we haven’t done, it’s too late now.” When pressed by the punditry team what problems Whyte brings, Davison replied: “It is his experience. He is a big, strong guy. Plenty of heart. Can punch. He brings all of those things to the table and that does not change, no matter what condition he turns up in.

“Like I say, people keep talking about ‘if it goes into a dog fight…’ I have seen Moses. The young lad can fight up close as well, and you have got to have that in your locker. If you are going to mix in at this level, you have got to have that in the locker and he has got that in the locker. If the fight does go that way, I would not be shocked for it to still go as we expect.

Ahead of the clash, Itauma revealed Davison helped him fully restore his love for the sport of boxing. “Being in the ring (sparring) with all these heavyweights Daniel Dubois, Joe Joyce, Tyson Fury, Lawrence Okolie, I know that there are levels to boxing and I just felt like I was unable to learn any more,” Itauma said. The Brit admits that, under the guidance of Davison, he found a new side to the sport.

“I don’t want to disrespect any of the coaches I tried or did work with. I love and respect them, but with Ben, he taught me a different side to boxing,” he continued. “He taught me there is more to boxing than punch, punch, get punched, punch back, punch, punch, punch. There is actually a whole chess game to this.”

When is Moses Itauma vs Dillian Whyte?

The ‘Esports World Cup Fight Week: Moses Itauma vs Dillian Whyte’ will take place on Saturday, August 16. The main undercard is due to get underway at around 5:45 pm UK time (12:45 pm ET / 9:45 am PT). The main event ringwalks will likely take place at around 10:20pm UK time (5:20 pm ET / 2:20 pm PT).

All of the action will be streamed live on DAZN Pay Per-View. The event is priced at £19.99 in the United Kingdom, $49.99 in the United States, €19.99 in Europe and $49.95 in Australia.