Moses Itauma senses a win over Dillian Whyte could put him on a fast track to Oleksandr Usyk and he is thrilled

Oleksandr Usyk seemingly stepped into an aura of invincibility after demolishing Daniel Dubois emphatically in their rematch last month.

Witnessing such dominating boxing brilliance did not stop His Excellency Turki Alalshikh from taking to his X social media account and naming 20-year-old phenom Moses Itauma as a fighter he believes can test the two-time undisputed heavyweight world champion.

A deluge of feedback from the post, which garnered 1.6 million views, triggered Itauma into temporarily deactivating his Instagram account to hone in on his immediate task at hand.

On Saturday night at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and live on DAZN Pay-Per-View, the undefeated knockout artist will take on his biggest challenge yet in veteran Dillian Whyte. Having the support of Alalshikh, Itauma (12-0, 10 KOs) understands a scintillating win over Whyte (31-3, 21 KOs) could put him on a fast track to Usyk.

He is just hesitant to fully admit it.

“Maybe,” Itauma told DAZN News about the express lane to Usyk during a recent media roundtable conference call on Zoom.

“That’s obviously down to my team as well. My job is to get into the ring, fight and I feel like I’m doing a good job of it. I let all the outside stuff to my team.”

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Such a clash would present a mouthwatering matchup with a 38-year-old Usyk bundling supreme sweet science skills and pointed power against the blazing hand speed and explosive knockout power that Itauma has etched a dozen fights into his own career.

Joseph Parker has launched a social media blitz of a campaign to get a crack at Usyk’s undisputed crown, but the backing of Alalshikh for Itauma speaks volumes.

Despite an illuminated path to Usyk seemingly carved out for him, Itauma will not fully talk about the Ukrainian until Whyte is defeated in devastating fashion.

“I’m not paying attention to that,” he said of the potential mega bout. “If that fight happens, it happens. If it don’t, it don’t.  People might say I’m not ready, I am ready.

“I know what I’m capable of,” he tacked on. “I just need to go out and show the world what I’m capable of.”

Itauma blazed through four opponents in 2024 before dismantling Mike Balogun with a mind-numbing second-round TKO in May at OVO Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland.

Whyte represents a huge step up, easily standing to be the toughest challenge of Itauma’s young pro career.

Whyte has twice held the WBC interim heavyweight title and has boxed the likes of former world champions Anthony Joshua, Joseph Parker and Tyson Fury with nearly triple the amount of fights in a vast experience edge over Itauma. 

While he won’t fully open up about potentially testing Usyk, Itauma did confess to recently seeing a list of the youngest heavyweight world champions in boxing history and their respective ages at the times they were crowned. Mike Tyson, who accomplished the feat at just 20, already has Itauma, who turns 21 in December, beat. But Itauma could not help but notice that sixth on the list was George Foreman who was just 24 when he became heavyweight champ of the world.

“That’s four years from now for me,” Itauma said in awe, knowing he is in a good position. “I believe I can be a heavyweight champion before that and I can be in and around or in the mix of those great names.”

Whether it can be done against Usyk remains to be seen, though Itauma is quick to assert “ but Dillian Whyte" is the first line of order.

After all, a setback against Whyte and a fast track to Usyk will turn into a painful pitstop.

Watch Itauma vs Whyte live on DAZN

Moses Itauma vs Dillian Whyte is live and exclusive on DAZN PPV this Saturday, August 16. Watch the PPV for free by purchasing a DAZN annual subscription (exc. US).

More information, pricing and to buy  click here.