Dillian Whyte’s career hangs in the balance as he hopes to prove he can still play in the big leagues against rising phenom Moses Itauma.
Dillian ‘The Bodysnatcher’ Whyte hopes to extinguish a rising flame in Moses Itauma on Saturday night in Saudi Arabia, and earn his seat at the big table once more.
Whyte has been largely cast aside since his loss to Tyson Fury in 2022, and had nearly two years out of the ring following his fight with Jermaine Franklin.
The question on everyone’s mind is ‘How much does Dillian Whyte have left?’. Whyte has come into fight week in amazing shape, but has concerned fans as his trainer, Buddy McGirt, admitted he has never seen Itauma fight.
McGirt has instead spoken on the strategy going into the fight, and it seems Whyte’s chances of glory hinge solely on getting Itauma ‘drunk’.
Buddy McGirt suggests Whyte must ‘get [Itauma] drunk before you mug him’
In an interview with Seconds Out, McGirt spoke on the strategy for his 37-year-old charge ahead of his fight with a man 17 years his junior,
“There’s an old saying in boxing – You get the guy drunk before you mug him. So we’ve got to slow him down somehow, you know. We’re gonna hit him on the hips, thighs, kneecaps, wherever we can hit him to slow him down. Once we slow him down, then we mug him.”
McGirt seems confident in ‘The Bodysnatcher’s ability, though he is one of a small few, with many writing Whyte off against Itauma.
Lawrence Okolie thinks Itauma will KO Whyte early, whilst Whyte’s former coach, Mark Tibbs, cannot see anything but an Itauma win.
Itauma, who exchanged words with Whyte at their face-off, is currently the WBO number one ranked fighter, meaning the winner of this fight will likely fight for the world title soon.
If Oleksandr Usyk vacates his WBO belt instead of facing Joseph Parker, it’s possible the Itauma vs Whyte winner will face Parker for the crown next.
Dillian Whyte is expected to weigh in far lighter than usual
Ahead of the weigh-ins tonight, Whyte is expected to weigh in far lighter than he usually does, as recent footage shows Whyte to have lost a lot of weight ahead of the career-defining fight.
Whyte’s heaviest weight came in 2019, when he weighed 271 pounds against Mariusz Wach, who he was unable to stop.
His lightest weight came early in his career, when he weighed 226.75 in his third pro bout.
Itauma, meanwhile, weighed his lightest in 2023, when he sat at 236 for his sixth fight. His latest bout saw him at his heaviest, weighing 254 pounds.
Itauma may well come in heavy for this one in a bid to get Whyte out early, whilst it seems ‘The Bodysnatcher’ hopes to evade Itauma for the early rounds and pick him off after that.