Rising heavyweight star Moses Itauma set to face ultimate test against Dillian Whyte in Riyadh

RIYADH: Undefeated phenom Moses Itauma (12-0, 10 KOs), one of boxing’s brightest young contenders, will put his perfect record on the line when he takes on battle-hardened veteran Dillian “The Body Snatcher” Whyte (31-3, 21 KOs) in a generational collision on Aug. 16 in Riyadh.

The announcement of the heavyweight bout came on Monday as part of the Esports World Cup Festival underway in the Kingdom.

Both fighters revealed their mindsets to Arab News on the sidelines of the gaming spectacle, framing the bout as career-defining.

For 20-year-old Itauma, the WBO Inter-Continental champion raised in Kent, the fight represents a trial by fire.

“I’ve prepared for this fight as much as I did for my other fights.”

Itauma, trained by Ben Davidson, said that Whyte has a lot of experience boxing, especially against big names in the game.

The prodigy confronted the experience gap head-on: “I was reading something where it’s like I’ve only ever boxed 25 rounds, and Dillian had boxed 258. There’s a big advantage to him. So, yeah, that’s something I’ll have to probably overcome.”

Whyte, the 37-year-old Jamaican-born Londoner, countered with tactical pragmatism: “One thing, it is good that he does not have much experience, but also on the other hand, it is bad because ... he is charging forward and wrecking everything.”

Whyte told Arab News that Itauma has a lot of “self-belief and is dangerous.”

Under trainer Buddy McGirt, his preparation included sparring younger stand-ins to mirror Itauma’s hunger.

“I kind of prepared for that, you know. I brought my young friend Victor back in the camp. He is a big guy, strong guy, and very dangerous and very ambitious, you know, so I can replicate that.”

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