Trainer Ben Davison has worked with all shapes and styles of fighter. From the southpaw skills of Billy Joe Saunders to the towering trickery of Tyson Fury and the athletic power of Anthony Joshua, the coach has seen a lot.

Arguably, some of his finest work is coming with fast-rising heavyweight Moses Itauma.

Itauma, 12-0 (10 KOs), will next face veteran contender Dillian Whyte in a notable step up this Saturday on DAZN PPV from ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Still only 20, Itauma – a Slovakian-born British southpaw raised in Chatham, Kent – is expected to have his way with Whyte.

According to Davison, that should not be the case at this stage of his career. But such is the buzz around Itauma that it is widely believed that Whyte will join Mariusz Wach, Demsey McKean and Mike Balogun on his growing highlight reel.

Wach lasted two rounds, as did Balogun. McKean was gone in one. Itauma knocked the three men down five times in all over the course of his past three starts.

Itauma’s manager, Frank Warren, has talked extensively about his belief in the talent his fighter has. 

Davison knows it has got to the point where Itauma – having his fourth fight in 13 outings in Saudi Arabia – is expected to shine brightly every time.

“I don’t like the whole, ‘Oh, Moses blows him [Whyte] away in a couple of rounds,’” Davison said. “Because if there was any other heavyweight boxing Dillian Whyte – any other heavyweight – they wouldn’t be saying he was a one- or two-round job. Not one other heavyweight. No one.

“I’m not saying that can’t happen, but if that was to happen, [Itauma] deserves credit for that. For that to just be, ‘Ah, it’s expected.’ What? Where’s that come from? It’s a good name, a great chance for him to show where he’s at, but also, at the same time, it’s a big step up for him as well.”

Davison understandably takes a cautious approach, though the numbers are in line with public perception. 

Itauma boasts an 83 per cent KO ratio, and Whyte, 31-3 (21 KOs) has been stopped in all of his three losses, which have come against Anthony Joshua, Alexander Povetkin and Tyson Fury.

Joshua went on to become a two-time, unified heavyweight titlist, while Fury was the lineal and WBC heavyweight champion at the time of their April 2022 affair.

Whyte avenged the Povetkin loss, and he has won three since a Fury uppercut turned his lights out at London’s Wembley Stadium. His current streak includes victories over Jermaine Franklin, Christian Hammer and Ebeneezer Tetteh.

Itauma is unlike any heavyweight out there, and Davison has been working with him to enhance the fighter’s own style.

“I'll be honest I thought he lacked identity,” Davison said of his start with Itauma. “I thought he had a great skill set, but [his identity] wasn’t very clear. The way I explain it is, this is the chunk of the tree and then we’ve got branches, we can branch off it … this is the fundamentals, this is what the rest of my work comes off. I think that’s what he's developed now.”

Itauma was on Davison’s radar long before the prospect turned pro. 

He had already been making waves in gyms in the UK as an amateur, and he visited Davison’s gym to spar Jeamie TKV, who is trained by Barry Smith at Davison’s Performance Centre in Essex, UK.

Itauma has boxed just 25 rounds as a pro. Whyte is approaching 200. And it is rounds that Davison would like to see Itauma start to bank.

“I mean, it’s so cliche, but it would do him the world of good,” Davison added. “Do you have to have it? No, he’s getting rounds in the gym. So again, he’s got a good enough IQ and he’s got an understanding now of, I can see the signs of what would make the rounds an issue. I now understand why that would happen and how to prevent that from happening.” 

But rounds are proving tough to get. 

Itauma’s power, tactics, speed and movement have left everyone floundering. The two opponents who went the distance with him managed to do six rounds in his third and fourth fights.

And the pressure must be mounting, with the expectation not just on Itauma but on Davison, too. But the coach is well-qualified for it, having marshaled Tyson Fury through his return and coached Anthony Joshua on some big nights.

“Yeah, of course, you get that,” Davison admitted. “Obviously [Itauma is] probably as big of a prospect as you’re going to have, to be honest, but I’ve had other big prospects as well. It’s part and parcel for the game.

“But that’s there, unless you’ve got a lad that not many people know about, in six-rounders, eight-rounders, 10-rounders, whatever, then there’s not much pressure on. But the rest of them, it’s the same as working with somebody at a very high level. There’s always going to be pressure, but that’s what motivates and keeps you disciplined and makes sure you make the right moves at the right time.” 

That is crucial, and there is no rush at Itauma’s age.

At the same time, Davison is bullish about what he has.

“There isn't anybody that I would hesitate to put him in with,” he said, before qualifying the statement. “When I say that, there’s a difference between ‘That fight makes more sense than that fight,’ because that fight might be just as hard, but there’s more to gain fighting that person.”

It was Turki Alalshikh, the Saudi power broker, who fired off a message on X that Itauma versus undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, 24-0 (15 KOs), is the fight to make. Itauma is unranked in Ring’s top 10, but he is No. 1 in the WBO, No. 2 in the WBA, No. 6 in the IBF and No. 11 with the WBC.

“Yeah, so that is a prime example,” Davison said, asked about the mention of Usyk-Itauma. “That is the one for me, because I think if it was a six-round fight, I would put my money on Moses. But it’s a 12-round fight. That’s not necessarily anything to do with gas tank; that’s just to do with experience in a sense of having to think at that level for that duration. But like I said, I wouldn’t hesitate to do that fight.” 

It comes down to patience and, as Davison said, making the right moves at the right time.

Warren, Itauma’s promoter, is the master at that. Given a heavyweight’s propensity to develop later, there is no blind rush with Itauma; one false move among the big men and things can change with a single punch.

“That can happen at any level, any weight in boxing,” said Davison. “But especially with a heavyweight.”

Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, is on The Ring ratings panel and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.