Moses Itauma (12-0, 10 KOs) vs Dillian Whyte (31-3, 21 KOs) has officially been confirmed for Saturday, August 16 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, live on DAZN.
The 20-year-old prospect from Kent, England is seen as the future of the heavyweight division, and has so far stopped 10 of his 12 opponents since turning pro in 2022.
The bout marks a major step up for the rising star, with Whyte, 37, a former world-title challenger and seasoned contender.
In the co-main event in Riyadh, Liverpool’s WBA featherweight champion Nick Ball, 28 from Liverpool, defends his belt against Australia’s Sam Goodman.
Also on the card, former super-featherweight world champion Anthony Cacace takes on American Raymond Ford, while British heavyweight David Adeleye faces Croatia’s Filip Hrgovic.
Slovakia-born Itauma moved to Chatham, Medway at the age of three. By 16, he was sparring former world champion Lawrence Okolie and caught the attention of promoter Frank Warren.
A powerful southpaw with sharp movement and dynamite in both hands, Itauma was hyped as a future record-breaker – previously tipped to beat Mike Tyson’s mark as the youngest heavyweight champion at 20 years and four months.
In May, he blasted out American Mike Balogun in two rounds but will now face, on paper, his biggest test to date.
Whyte, who has won 31 of 34 pro fights, has fought the likes of Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury but has struggled for momentum in recent years.
A 2023 rematch with Joshua was scrapped after a failed drug test. He claimed he was cleared of any wrongdoing and returned to action in Ireland in March 2024.
Whyte returned with stoppage wins over Christian Hammer and Ebenezer Tetteh, though looked far from his best.
Fellow British heavyweight, Frazer Clarke, gave his prediction for the fight, “A great name for Moses to go in against and I think he wins it. I think Dillian, at one stage, a long time ago, was a big threat for these guys, I don’t he’s the same fighter now.
“I think that [fight] is one-way traffic, to be honest. Yeah, [I think Moses gets him out of there] in really good fashion. I think he [Whyte] will go early.
“He’s [Moses] too young, he’s too fresh; he hits hard. He’s technically really good, he’s got a good grounding, and he’s very driven, so I just see that being one-way.”
He added that Itauma will need to watch out for that dangerous Dillian Whyte left hook during their contest.
Fight Card
Moses Itauma vs Dillian Whyte
Heavyweight
Nick Ball vs Sam Goodman
12×3 WBA world featherweight title
Anthony Cacace vs Raymond Ford
12×3 IBO world super-featherweight title
Filip Hrgovic vs David Adeleye
Heavyweight
Qais Ashfaq vs Hayato Tsutsumi
Super-featherweight
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