Moses Itauma could be taken into deep waters as he prepares for his toughest test to date against Dillian Whyte.
Moses Itauma is already being called the next big thing in the heavyweight division as the 20-year-old phenom prepares to take on Dillian ‘The Bodysnatcher’ Whyte on August 16th.
After just 12 fights, Itauma has been mentioned in the same breath as Oleksandr Usyk and Joseph Parker, with Turki Alalshikh calling for Itauma vs Usyk immediately after Usyk vs Daniel Dubois 2.
Itauma went for a run straight after Usyk vs Dubois, and sees putting extra effort into everything he does as the only way he can level the playing field against all the heavyweights with years of experience on him.
Whilst this is admirable, there are still doubters that Itauma will ever be as big as another heavyweight who came before him, who conquered Britain.
Moses Itauma will never be as big as Anthony Joshua according to Tony Bellew
In a debate posted to First Round TV, Dave Allen, Darren Barker, Propa Boxing, Ruth Raper, and Tony Bellew were given a series of statements to agree or disagree with.
When asked if they believed Itauma could ever be as big a superstar as Anthony Joshua, Bellew had this to say:
“You won’t see a boxer who’s the face of Lynx, who’s the face of Under Armour, who’s the face of Lucozade, who’s the face of Hugo Boss.”
Dave Allen expanded on Bellew’s comments, claiming “Joshua is bigger than boxing.”
Bellew continued, “This boy goes to Nigeria and shuts the country down. This boy is an Olympic gold medallist. He won the Olympic gold medal in his country in front of millions. He’s the face of heavyweight boxing. […] He’s got the whole package around him.”
YouTuber Propa Boxing chimed in, “I fully agree that Moses could trump AJ’s boxing credentials, but, as Dave and Tony said, the star power… [AJ’s] a walking brand.”
Bellew then put his argument a different way, “If Daniel Dubois knocked out Usyk on Saturday, do we think he could be as big a star as AJ. No, because he doesn’t cross over as well to the public.”
Tony Bellew can only see Moses Itauma vs Dillian Whyte going one way
Bellew offered his prediction for Itauma vs Whyte, and like many others, it was not too kind on the battle-hardened former interim champion.
“Dillian, in my opinion, is at the end. […] He’s being paid a king’s ransom to go in there and be dealt with.”
Bellew joins the ranks of many other fighters, trainers, and experts in his prediction for the fight, as Lawrence Okolie thinks Itauma will KO Whyte fast, and even Whyte’s former trainer, Mark Tibbs, sees Whyte losing to Itauma.
Dave Allen thinks Itauma is all wrong for Whyte, too.
In a classic case of experience vs youth, Itauma must prove himself with a win on August 16th.