Pick it: Moses Itauma vs. Dillian Whyte
When to Watch: Saturday, August 16 at 12:45 p.m. Eastern Time (5:45 p.m. BST).
Why to Watch: Itauma is being hailed as the future of the heavyweight division and perhaps the sport; he was BoxingScene’s Prospect of the Year for 2024. He’s highly ranked and highly regarded – those can be two separate things – but has not yet faced a particularly stern test in the ring.
That’s where Whyte comes in, a former title challenger who has been good enough to take out a certain level of heavyweight but has fallen short against the best.
Itauma, born in Slovakia and now living in Kent, is just 20 years old and has only been fighting professionally since January 2023. So far, the most notable name on Itauma’s record is Mariusz Wach, who was 27-0 when he lost to Wladimir Klitschko back in 2012. By the time Itauma got to him, Wach was 38-10 and regularly defeated by other contenders and prospects. Itauma kept that trend going with a third-round TKO in July 2024.
Since then, Itauma has been impressive with how he’s winning, though with the caveat of who he’s winning against.
The 22-1 Demsey McKean was coming off a 12th-round TKO loss to Filip Hrgovic and returning from a 16-month layoff. Itauma disposed of McKean in two minutes last December.
The 21-1 Mike Balogun couldn’t make it out of the second round against former cruiserweight titleholder Murat Gassiev in 2023 and had only been in one intervening bout – and was coming off a 14-month layoff – before facing Itauma in May. Itauma dispatched Balogun in two rounds, about a minute faster than Gassiev had done so.
All of which is to say that it’s still very early in Itauma’s career, but this step up against Whyte is a welcome one.
Itauma is ranked No. 1 by the WBO, No. 2 by the WBA, No. 6 by the IBF and No. 11 by the WBC. He hasn’t beaten a single ranked opponent yet. Whyte won’t change that. But if Itauma is truly the future, then boxing fans are looking forward to seeing what he does against Whyte on Saturday at the ANB Arena in Riyadh – and who comes next.
Whyte, 31-3 (20 KOs) is a 37-year-old former heavyweight title challenger from London whose three defeats have all come against name heavyweights: Anthony Joshua, Alexander Povetkin and Tyson Fury.
Whyte doesn’t want to add a fourth loss in any manner, but especially not if it were to come in a one-sided fashion. That would confirm that he’d be consigned for the remainder of his career as a gatekeeper opponent: a B-side when in against younger and fresher faces, or unofficial “loser must go” terms when in against fellow also-rans.
Of course, a win over Itauma, with all of the hype and marketing muscle behind him, would be huge.
Almost a decade ago, the 6-foot-4 Whyte was in with another unbeaten heavyweight with plenty of buzz and expectations: Joshua, who defeated Whyte in 2015 via seventh-round TKO and then went on to win his first world title.
Whyte subsequently scored 11 straight victories, including good wins over the likes of Robert Helenius in 2017, Joseph Parker in 2018 and Oscar Rivas in 2019. That winning streak came to an end in August 2020 after a highlight-reel knockout at the hands of Alexander Povetkin. Whyte defeated Povetkin in their immediate rematch, however, putting him away in four rounds in March 2021.
The victory landed Whyte a shot at Tyson Fury in April 2022 for the WBC heavyweight title. Fury finished Whyte in six rounds. Whyte returned in November 2022 with a majority decision over Jermaine Franklin Jnr and was supposed to have a rematch with Joshua in 2023 but tested positive for a banned substance.
According to Sky Sports, a forensic expert later concluded that Whyte had used a contaminated supplement. Whyte was also suspended earlier in his career for using a banned stimulant, which the fighter also said came from a supplement.
Whyte returned after a 16-month layoff, taking out Christian Hammer in three rounds in March 2024. His last fight was in December, when he put away Ebenezer Tetteh after seven rounds.
The undercard includes a featherweight title fight between Nick Ball and Sam Goodman, plus junior lightweight contender Raymond Ford vs. late replacement Abraham Nova, and Filip Hrgovic vs. David Adeleye in a battle of once-beaten heavyweights.
Ball, 22-0-1 (13 KOs), is making the third defense of his WBA belt at 126lbs. He took that title from Ford via split decision in June 202 and has since scored a pair of 10th-round TKOs, beating Ronny Rios last October and TJ Doheny in March.
Ball has been mentioned as a potential opponent for Naoya Inoue if the undisputed junior featherweight champion continues his winning ways and moves up in weight. Goodman, meanwhile, was supposed to face Inoue last winter but twice suffered bad cuts in sparring. Goodman, 20-0 (8 KOs), returned to the ring in May with a wide unanimous decision over the 19-1-1 Cesar Vaca Espinoza.
Ford, 17-1-1 (8 KOs), moved up to 130lbs after losing to Ball and has won a pair of decisions over the 23-2 Orlando Gonzalez last November and the 22-4-1 Thomas Mattice in April. He was originally supposed to challenge Anthony Cacace, a former titleholder who relinquished his belt last year in order to focus on more lucrative fights. When Cacace hurt his back during training camp, Nova stepped in.
Nova, 24-3-1 (17 KOs), suffered a fifth-round knockout loss to Robeisy Ramirez in 2022 and lost two in a row in 2024, dropping a split decision to Foster and a unanimous decision to the 21-0 Andres Cortes. Since then, Nova has fought to a draw with the 14-3-2 Humberto Galindo last November and put away the 65-72-3 German Meraz after three rounds in June.
Hrgovic, 18-1 (14 KOs), was stopped on cuts by Daniel Dubois in June 2024 and then battled through another cut to defeat Joe Joyce by unanimous decision this past April. Adeleye, 14-1 (13 KOs), was stopped in the seventh round by Fabio Wardley in October 2023 and has since notched a pair of early nights against the 9-0 Solomon Dacres (TKO1 last December) and the 8-1 Jeamie Tshikeva (TKO6 in April).
More Fights to Watch
Wednesday, August 13: WBC Boxing Grand Prix quarterfinals (DAZN)
The broadcast begins at 3 a.m. Eastern Time (8 a.m. BST).
The third stage of the WBC’s tournaments at featherweight, junior welterweight, middleweight and heavyweight. A full list of fights is on the WBC website.
Friday, August 15: Omar Trinidad vs. Lorenzo Parra (UFC Fight Pass)
The broadcast begins at 9 p.m. Eastern Time (2 a.m. BST).
Trinidad, 19-0-1 (13 KOs), is a featherweight prospect who is ranked No. 2 by the IBF, No. 3 by the WBC, No. 7 by the WBO and No. 8 by the WBA. He’s been a staple of UFC Fight Pass shows and is headlining this card at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, California.
This will be Trinidad’s third fight of 2025. The 29-year-old from Los Angeles won wide decisions over the 31-4 Mike Plania in January and the 23-6-3 Alexander Espinoza in May.
“I’m ready to fight any of the world champions right now,” Trinidad said in a press release. “Being ranked by all four sanctioning bodies puts me in line, and hopefully I’ll fight for a world title soon. I know I can beat these guys.”
Parra, 23-1 (17 KOs), is a 30-year-old from Venezuela, not to be confused with the Lorenzo Parra of Venezuela who fought Jorge Arce back in 2010 and 2012.
This Parra has won nine straight since a decision loss to the 19-2-1 Yonfrez Parejo in 2017. However, Parra has gone almost exactly two years since his last fight, when he won a split decision over the 12-1 Javon Woodard Jnr at junior featherweight.
In the co-feature, Mizuki Hiruta, 8-0 (2 KOs), will seek to make the fifth successful defense of her WBO junior bantamweight title. Her opponent is Naomy Cardenas Gomez, 9-0 (2 KOs), who is coming off a split decision victory over the 8-0 bantamweight Bree Howling in June.
Friday, August 15: Muhammadkhuja Yaqubov vs William Foster III (ProBoxTV.com)
The broadcast begins at 6 p.m. Eastern Time (11 p.m. BST).
Yaqubov, 22-1 (12 KOs), is a 30-year-old junior lightweight from Tajikistan. In 2019, he widely outpointed the 18-1-1 Abraham Montoya, whose only defeat before then had come early in his career. Yaqubov ultimately landed a spot in a title eliminator against O’Shaquie Foster in 2022.
Foster earned a clear victory on the scorecards and went on to capture the WBC belt in his next outing. Yaqubov, meanwhile, has since won four in a row but hasn’t been overly active. His last two bouts were a decision over the 23-1 Pablo Vicente in November 2023 and a fourth-round stoppage of the 13-2 Zafar Parpiev last December.
William Foster III, 19-2 (11 KOs), is a 31-year-old from Connecticut who is not related to O’Shaquie. He has a few good names on his ledger, giving Sulaiman Segawa and Edwin De Los Santos their first pro losses in 2018 and 2022, respectively. Foster also narrowly outpointed the 11-3 Avery Sparrow, also in 2022.
But Foster dropped decisions to the 18-0 Henry Lebron in November 2023 and the 18-1 Eridson Garcia in July 2024. (Lebron is now ranked sixth by three of the sanctioning bodies, while Garcia is slotted at 13th by the WBA.) Foster has since bounced back with a pair of victories, going the distance against the 30-16-1 Jayson Velez last November and the 21-3 Brandon Leon Benitez in April.
The co-feature at the ProBox Events Center in Plant City, Florida, is a junior welterweight bout between Starling Castillo, 19-1-1 (13 KOs), and Shinard Bunch, 21-2-1 (17 KOs). Also scheduled for the undercard is former bantamweight contender Gary Antonio Russell, 20-1 (13 KOs), now competing at 122lbs. Russell is due to face Dervin Rodriguez, 11-2-1 (8 KOs).
(Note: BoxingScene and ProBox are owned by Garry Jonas.)
Saturday, August 16: Argi Cortes vs. Bairon Rodriguez (ESPN+ and ESPN Deportes)
The broadcast begins at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (1 a.m. BST).
This was supposed to be an elimination bout between Cortes and Andrew Moloney for an opportunity to challenge IBF junior bantamweight titleholder Willibaldo Garcia. But when the date kept changing, and finally the location changed as well, Moloney stepped out and Rodriguez stepped in.
The match headlines a show in Mexico City.
Cortes, 27-4-2 (11 KOs), is a 30-year-old from Mexico City who is ranked third by the IBF (the top two spots are vacant). Two of those defeats came in his first four pro fights. The other two came against top-tier fighters in recent years: decision losses to Juan Francisco Estrada in 2022 and Junto Nakatani in 2023. Since then, Cortes outpointed the 21-3-1 Victor Emmanuel Olivo in January 2024 and scored a ninth-round TKO over the 19-8-2 Salvador Juarez in August 2024, which means that Cortes is coming off a yearlong layoff.
Rodriguez, 11-3 (7 KOs), is a 20-year-old from Colombia and now living in Spain. He has lost three of his last four, all by 10-round decision.
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
