When is Moses Itauma vs. Dillian Whyte?

What channel is Moses Itauma vs. Dillian Whyte on?

Moses Itauma vs. Dillian Whyte will stream on DAZN.

Where is Moses Itauma vs. Dillian Whyte?

The fight is taking place at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Who is Moses Itauma?

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, England, is just 20 years old and has only been fighting professionally since January 2023. Some of his pedigree comes from sparring with other top heavyweights, somewhat akin to how a teenage David Benavidez grew due to whom he was able to train alongside and against.

Itauma “fights like he's 10 years older, not that he lacks a young man's athleticism but because he has a veteran's poise,” Adam Abramowitz wrote on his Saturday Night Boxing website, praising Itauma’s varied arsenal, combination punching, body work, footwork and even his build at 6-foot-4 and ranging from 240 to 254lbs. 

So far, however, 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 in Riyadh – and who comes next.

Who is Dillian Whyte?

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.

What other fights are on the undercard of Moses Itauma vs. Dillian Whyte?

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).

The full list of undercard fights can be seen on BoxRec.

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.