The question of “What’s next?” lingered in the air in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as heavyweight darling Moses Itauma (13-0, 11 KOs) addressed the smattering of fans still in attendance inside ANB Arena. At just 20 years old, the towering Briton stood tall in the ring \u2014 6 feet, 4 inches of calm dominance \u2014 scarcely showing a sign of exertion.<\/p>\n
He had needed barely two minutes \u2014 119 ruthless seconds \u2014 to erase the challenge of seasoned veteran Dillian Whyte (31-4, 21 KOs) in what had been billed as his biggest test to date. The 37-year-old was no match for Itauma\u2019s cold precision and explosive power. What unfolded was less a fight than a showcase: a clinical, destructive exhibition of heavyweight instinct that left no doubt: It\u2019s now safe to believe the hype.<\/p>\n
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Itauma\u2019s question beared a predictable answer: Oleksandr Usyk (24-0, 15 KOs). Such is the nature of today\u2019s fast-paced world. In a Turki Alalshikh and Saudi investment-injected sport, patience is even thinner; when a contender to one of boxing\u2019s thrones breaks through, you as the fighter are obliged to call for the biggest and accept the best. If you don\u2019t? You risk getting frozen out.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, I’ll fight anyone they put in front of me,\u201d Itauma said. \u201cBut if I\u2019m being completely honest, Joseph Parker and [Agit] Kabayel do deserve their shot, but I’d love to take that opportunity [Usyk] as well. Chuck me in there with the lot. I’m only 20 years old. I’ve got maybe 10, 15 years left in this career. So, man, there’s gonna be a lot of this face around. So I’m just happy to be able to put a performance on for you guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
Itauma’s assessment is right. He has painted himself into the heavyweight picture at such a tender age, but the brushstrokes that follow need careful consideration as well as a steady hand. Saturday night\u2019s fight against Whyte was considered a big step up for the Slovakian-born Briton, but form and stock in the heavyweight division famously fluctuates.<\/p>\n
Whyte\u2019s slender, sculpted physique suggested he was close to career-best shape. But the \u201cBodysnatcher\u2019s\u201d performances have fallen off since a brutal 2020 KO loss to Alexander Povetkin. Hindsight is of course 20\/20, but he was oversold as a big step up for Itauma, meaning there are still plenty more rungs to explore before reaching the champion \u2014 currently Usyk \u2014 at the top of the ladder.<\/p>\n
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As the current crop of heavyweight giants nears retirement, Itauma and his team will no doubt approach a fork in the road: chase a Deontay Wilder, Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury or Oleksandr Usyk, or plant their flag in the new crop of heavyweight talent and spearhead the next generation without a need to look back. Boxing\u2019s conveyor belt doesn\u2019t end and the romanticized “passing-of-the-torch” fights don\u2019t always materialize.<\/p>\n
Itauma\u2019s promoter, Queensberry\u2019s Frank Warren, has no problem championing the limitless ceiling of his charge.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe catches you and he doesn’t get flustered,” Warren said. “He gets space on his shots. He doesn’t fall into the opponent. Every shot he throws is a hurtful punch, and it’s a well-measured punch. He’s an unbelievable, unbelievable talent, an unbelievable boxing talent \u2014 probably one of the best, if not the best, at this stage of his career I’ve ever been involved with.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The “retired” Tyson Fury agrees. \u201cMoses [Itauma] would beat [Oleksandr] Usyk now,\u201d he said through a video on social media, once again baiting a reaction from the Ukrainian who holds two wins over the \u201cGypsy King.\u201d The cynic might suggest Fury is already positioning himself to be considered in future Itauma conversations.<\/p>\n
If all goes to plan, we\u2019ll benefit from a future Moses Itauma reign. Despite not benefiting from the early exposure and Olympic success Anthony Joshua did, the blueprint is there for Itauma to become the next face of the division and sport. Certainly in the United Kingdom as a stadium fighter, if not worldwide.<\/p>\n
Rushing him into major fights will be tempting. The Ring Magazine \u201clearned\u201d from its owner Alalshikh that Itauma versus Usyk is what the Saudi kingpin wants next, so it\u2019s now down to Itauma’s team to temper these conversations.<\/p>\n
Itauma has become a buzzword in boxing. His hype train had sold out in the lead-up to Saturday night\u2019s fight, and 119 seconds after boarding, the train pulled away from the station. The stops along the way will ultimately determine its final destination \u2014 for boxing\u2019s sake, let’s hope it\u2019s a long, exciting journey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The question of “What’s next?” lingered in the air in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as heavyweight darling Moses Itauma…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":74801,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,18892,7108,16171,4036,38377,26020,5386,101,6901,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-74800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-dillian-whyte","tag-heavyweight","tag-moses-itauma","tag-oleksandr-usyk","tag-richard-pelham","tag-riyadh","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-sports","tag-tyson-fury","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}