Moses Itauma Continues his Rapid Rise; Steamrolls Dillian Whyte in Riyadh

Moses Itauma is only 20 years old and has answered the bell for only 26 rounds. But there isn’t a heavyweight out there – not even the brilliant Oleksandr Usyk – who would be a substantial favorite if thrust against the Slovakia-born phenom tomorrow. A southpaw, Itauma’s strongest asset is his blazing fast hands as shell-shocked Dillian Whyte can testify.

In what on paper was his hardest test to date, the Ben Davison-trained Itauma blasted out Whyte in the opening round tonight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, advancing his pro record to 13-0 (11 KOs). After backing Whyte into the ropes, he unleashed a barrage of punches concluding with a right hook that knocked Whyte to his knees. The referee waived it off as Whyte was rising on unsteady legs.

The official time was 1:59 of round one. None of Itauma’s knockout victims has lasted beyond the second round. He has yet to taste defeat – either as an amateur, where he was reportedly 24-0 (11 KOs)—or as a pro.

The 37-year-old Whyte, who declined to 31-4, wasn’t there just for the payday. A kickboxing champion in his younger days, he carried 244 ½ pounds at the weigh-in, 17 pounds lighter than in his previous fight and the lightest he has weighed in 10 years. He had hinted that he would likely retire if he lost this bout and the manner in which he was defeated suggests that he would be wise to call it quits.

Co-Feature

Liverpool’s Nick “The Wrecking” Ball, Great Britain’s lone male boxing champion, successfully defended his WBA world featherweight title with a unanimous decision over Australia’s previously undefeated Sam Goodman. The scores were 118-110, 117-111, and 115-113.

This was an interesting clash of styles and a more interesting fight than the widest scores suggested. A 5-foot-2 fireplug with a fighting style reminiscent of Mike Tyson, Ball improved to 23-0-1 (13). Goodman, who was moving up in weight, has had a lot of bad luck lately – twice he suffered cuts in sparring that spoiled lucrative dates with Naoya Inoue – and tonight he incurred his first defeat after winning his first 20 pro fights.

Hrgovic vs. Adaleye

Croatian heavyweight Filip Hrgovic improved to 19-1 (14) with a wide but hard-earned unanimous 10-round decision over David Adeleye (14-2). The judges had it 98-91 and 99-90 twice.

Hrgovic looked to be in serious trouble when an Adaleye jab opened a bad gash over Hrgovic’s right eye in the second frame. Facial cuts had contributed to the Croatian’s lone defeat (L TKO 8 Daniel Dunbois). In round three, the referee summoned the doctor to look at the wounded optic, but Hrgovic’s corner did a good job of stanching the flow.

Hrgovic landed many more punches, one of which produced a knockdown in round eight. But this round, a candidate for round of the year, yielded Adaleye’s best moment. He had Hrgovic in trouble before the round ended but the Londoner wasn’t able to capitalize and it was a foregone conclusion that Hrgovic would win when the fight went to the scorecards.

Hrgovic entered the contest ranked #2 by the WBO behind Moses Itauma. The WBO recognizes Oleksandr Usyk as the champion and Joseph Parker as the interim champion.

Ford vs. Nova

In a tactical fight between junior lightweights, Camden, New Jersey southpaw Raymond Ford cruised to a 10-round decision over Albany, New York’s Abraham Nova. The scores were 96-94 and 97-93 twice.

Ford, who improved to 18-1-1 (8), was making his third start since losing his WBA featherweight title on a split decision to Nick Ball. He reigned an 8/1 favorite over Nova, a late replacement for Anthony Cacace.

It was a nice payday for Nova (21-4-1), an honest journeyman who has been on the wrong side of several tight decisions. In his most recent matches previous to this assignment, he fought an 8-rounder against a professional loser at Boston’s Fenway Park followed by seven 1-round fights for Team Combat League.

Photo credit: Leigh Dawney / Queensberry

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