Nigerian-born star demands separate hotel from body snatcher

Experts are already writing Dillian Whyte’s boxing obituary before he has even stepped into the ring with Moses Itauma, reports talksports.com. So strong is the belief in Itauma’s abilities that the boxing fraternity is tipping the precocious 20-year-old to make light work of Whyte when they meet in the ring, despite having never fought anyone near the calibre of ‘The Bodysnatcher.’

The best name on Itauma’s résumé thus far is Demsey McKean, who came unstuck at world level when he was stopped by Filip Hrogovic in 2023. In stark contrast, Whyte has been mixing it with the best heavyweights on the planet for the best part of a decade and holds notable wins over the likes of Alexander Povetkin, Joseph Parker and Derek Chisora (twice).

While there is no questioning Whyte’s status as a top 10 heavyweight at the peak of his powers, at 37 years old and with just two fights under his belt in the last three years, there are serious reservations about what remains of the Brixton powerhouse.

Whyte left a lot to be desired when he retired the unheralded Ebenezer Tetteh on his stool last December and hasn’t had a meaningful fight since being knocked out by Tyson Fury in April 2022.

If Itauma was facing the version of Whyte who spent more than 600 days as Deontay Wilder’s WBC mandatory, then the verdict would likely be more divided. After all, there are still a lot of unanswered questions surrounding the Chatham southpaw.

However, as Whyte enters the twilight of his career, you would be hard pressed to find a preeminent voice who is picking Whyte to beat Itauma. “I even phoned Dillian and said I don’t know why you’re talking this fight, this kid is on fire right now,” Chisora told talkSPORT.

“He’s getting better and better. He’s not going backwards, he’s going forward… He’s 20. Someone needs to call the police and get them done for attempted murder for making that fight happen.

“That is not the fight to make right now. Moses is on fire, so we need to decide who goes to prison when Dillian gets battered badly. There’s no light at the end of that tunnel.”

“I think [Itauma] will beat Dillian, and I think he will beat him convincingly, no disrespect intended. Moses isn’t the light at the end of the tunnel; he is the train, and that is what Dillian is going to run into.”

Dave Allen, who lost on points to Whyte in 2016, said: “I think Dillian Whyte has had three fights in three years, and at 37 years of age, I expect Itauma to win inside the distance.

“Dillian Whyte at his best was a world-class heavyweight, but we haven’t seen him at that level for five or six years.

“They aren’t daft, they wouldn’t put him in with Dillian Whyte if they thought he was anywhere near his best.” Former cruiserweight champion, Tony Bellew, said, “Dillian, in my opinion, is at the end. He’s being paid a king’s ransom to go in there and be dealt with,” while Martin Bakole describes Itauma as ‘moving a lot,’ adding: “I think maybe Dillian Whyte will get knocked out. He’s been out for long.

“Like Oleksandr Usyk, he’s a small heavyweight; he doesn’t need to stay in front of a big guy, he is going to get knocked out, but I think he is going to move a lot and try to box him.”

Bakole also thinks that Whyte’s cardio will fail him, saying, “Everyone knows Dillian Whyte after round four, five, six, gets tired and starts fighting like someone who has never been in the gym before.

“If he can move his feet and lose a bit of weight, with his experience, he can maybe beat Moses, but no, Moses right now, this is his time. I think he can knock him out to get in the mix.”

Itauma is unbeaten in his 12-bout career so far and has blown away every opponent in front of him, but ‘The Brixton Body Snatcher’ is a huge, risky step up in levels for the young protégé, who is still just 20-years-old.

Thirty-seven-ear-oldhirty-seven-ear-old Whyte was famously rated at WBC #1 for over 1,000 days and beaten the likes of Joseph Parker, Alexander Povetkin, Oscar Rivas, and Derek Chisora twice.

The British heavyweight rivals are staying in the same hotel in Riyadh and seemingly seeing a lot of each other as they fulfil their media duties. Speaking to Spencer Oliver from Talksport, Itauma firstly answered a question on how it feels to be top of the bill for the first time in his career, “If I’ll be honest, I don’t want to sound too big-headed or nothing but it don’t make no difference, you know, because, at the end of the day, it’s as dangerous for me to lose when I’m on the undercard than if I was on main event, It’s the same procedure.

“Yes, it adds a form of pressure, but for me I took them fights that I had on people’s undercards, I took them as serious as if I was to be main event. And like I said multiple times, when I said that last time when I boxed Demsey McKean out here, I said I’m treating this like it’s my world title fight, so I felt as much pressure for that fight as I do for this fight.”

Itauma revealed that he didn’t want to be in the same vicinity as his opponent, who have already been recorded meeting each other in the hotel lobby where they respectfully shook hands with each other in a very friendly encounter.

However, the WBO #1 revealed, “To be honest, I asked for a separate hotel,” he laughed. “I don’t really see him.”