ITAUMA AND WHYTE MEET IN A CROSSROADS CLASH OF ALL CROSSROADS CLASHES
crossroads
/ˈkrɒsrəʊdz/
noun
An intersection of two or more roads.
When it comes to boxing, a crossroads fight is often a vital part of not one but two fighters’ careers. One fighter is usually on the up with a huge future ahead of them, while the other faces the bleak prospect of potential retirement if they lose.
This Saturday night, we get exactly that.
12-0, 20-year-old Moses Itauma up against the 31-3, 37-year-old Dillian Whyte.
Victory for Itauma would enhance his growing reputation as a fighter who could well be the future of boxing, whereas victory for Whyte will likely throw him back in the mix for a mega-fight or perhaps even a world title shot.
Before that though, the undercard — and we’ll be previewing the three other exciting fights on the main show.
First up, to the super-featherweight division, where Ray Ford takes on late replacement Abraham Nova.
Originally scheduled to face former world champion Anto Cacace, American Ford now finds himself up against a former world title challenger in what will be a really intriguing fight.
A world champion back down at featherweight, Ford was dethroned by Nick Ball in a cracking contest last year, but that defeat saw him move up in weight to 130lbs, where he has since recorded back-to-back points wins against decent opposition.
Nova, meanwhile, has had a tricky past couple of years, having won just one fight in his last four contests — that victory coming against the 65-72-3 German Ivan Meraz in June — and he’s looked a shadow of the fighter he once promised to be.
To the fight now, and we really are struggling to see past a Ford points victory.
Nova will bring the power and size, yes, but his recent form is nowhere near the standard needed to pose a legitimate threat to Ford.
The American isn’t possessed of devastating power, but what he lacks in power he makes up for with his boxing IQ and general skill.
Nova will be game, but Ford should be just too clever for him.
Now to the first heavyweight fight of the night, where we see Croatian Filip Hrgović take on England’s David Adeleye in what is a really intriguing match-up.
After suffering a devastating stoppage defeat to Daniel Dubois in June last year, Hrgović looked somewhat back to his best when proving too much for Joe Joyce back in April.
Adeleye, like Hrgović, has been resurgent since suffering the first loss of his career to Fabio Wardley in 2023.
He’s recorded back-to-back stoppage wins, firstly over Sol Dacres and then controversially over Jeamie Tshikeva in his last fight, so he’s a man full of confidence — and with 13 stoppages from 14 victories to his name, he’s a young man who can certainly whack.
As fights go, this is a tough one to predict. On paper, you’d probably favour Hrgović for his experience alone and the fact that in periods of his fight with Jeamie TKV, Adeleye was being outboxed — and Hrgović, technically, is a better fighter than TKV.
The thing with the Croatian is that you just don’t know what you’re going to get with him.
He was complacent in his fight with Daniel Dubois, and he paid the price for that complacency. He can’t afford to make the same mistake again against a huge puncher like Adeleye.
As for the Brit, he needs to use his youthfulness and freshness to his advantage as much as possible.
Hrgović has a lot of miles on the clock, having had an illustrious amateur career, and if Adeleye is going to win this fight, he needs to fight at a pace that suits him — a pace that will make Hrgović uncomfortable.
It’s a fight that could go either way, and it’s certainly a potential fight-of-the-night contender if the big punchers do meet in the middle and slug it out.
The only world title fight on the card sees The Ashes kick off three months early, as Liverpool’s undefeated WBA World Featherweight champ Nick Ball takes on the undefeated Aussie Sam Goodman.
It’s a classic case of boxer vs brawler, this one.
The ‘Mini Mike Tyson’, as Nick Ball is known, against the slick, fleet-footed Sam Goodman — two completely different styles but two boxers who are among the best in the world at what they do.
Ball’s been on fire of late. He’s recorded back-to-back stoppage wins since beating Ray Ford for the belt last June and, at times, he’s looked unbeatable. It’s this sort of form that has seen him touted for a fight against Naoya Inoue in 2026 — ironically, a man Goodman was scheduled to face twice but was forced to withdraw due to a cut sustained in sparring.
As a result of that cut, the Aussie has fought just once in the past year — albeit a convincing win over Cesar Espinoza back in May — and that inactivity could play a huge part here.
Is Goodman the best opponent Ball has fought to date? Most likely not. Is Ball the best opponent Goodman has fought to date? Absolutely. And that big-fight experience for Ball will probably be enough to see him make a successful third defence of his world title.
Goodman, who’s renowned for starting slow, is going to need to be almost punch-perfect for 12 rounds. Ball will do what Ball does — and that’s break down his opponents. If Goodman is going to win this fight, he needs to find his rhythm early, establish his jab, and force Ball to overcommit and make mistakes he doesn’t usually make. Even then, he’s going to have to make sure he’s got enough energy in the tank down the stretch to live with Ball’s pressure.
Expect the Aussie to be competitive at times, but ultimately Nick Ball will more than likely prove just too good.
Now to the big one — and it certainly is a big one.
The undefeated, young and hungry Moses Itauma up against the experienced, established and exciting Dillian Whyte — what a clash of styles this could be.
After an undefeated amateur career — and having never fought as a senior amateur — Itauma turned professional in early 2023, just weeks after his 18th birthday.
Since then, he’s lived up to the hype. Twelve fights, twelve wins with ten stoppages — the knockout ratio is frightening when you remember that this young man is still only 20 years of age.
He’s still a baby in heavyweight boxing terms, yet he’s obliterating the likes of Mariusz Wach — a fighter whom Whyte could only manage to beat by decision. It’s scary.
But with this dominance comes questions. Has Itauma just been matched really well? What will happen when he gets hit clean on the whiskers by a big puncher? How will he react when he lands a huge shot on an opponent and they just smile back?
These are three questions we may get the answers to this weekend.
Whyte, meanwhile, is at a completely different stage of his career compared to Itauma.
Thirty-four fights, 31 wins, and countless mega-fights — this is a fighter who has very much done it all in the heavyweight division aside from winning a world title.
When Whyte is on it, he’s nothing but box office. Highlight-reel knockouts of Alexander Povetkin, Derek Chisora and Lucas Browne have seen him light up the televisions of adoring boxing fans.
Just one of the reasons why he is must-watch.
His recent form is a bit stop-start.
He’s won his last three since his defeat to Tyson Fury, but those three fights have come over the past three years.
Now 37, he’s struggled to gather any momentum, and you could forgive him for falling out of love with the sport and becoming complacent.
This fight week though, he’s turned up in the best shape he’s arguably ever been in — and with the power he carries, he’s a legitimate threat.
So, how do we see the fight going?
First off, both fighters need to get each other’s respect.
Itauma has shown he’s a fast starter and can download the data pretty quickly. Whyte needs to land heavy early and upset that rhythm — not let the younger man gain confidence.
But even if he does, Itauma’s confidence could turn out to be his downfall. If he shows his inexperience and gets carried away, Whyte is more than capable of switching his lights off with one punch.
If Whyte is going to win this fight, he needs to use all of that 34-fight experience to his advantage. Even though Itauma is only the second southpaw he has fought as a pro, he’s fought Tyson Fury — who, at this stage of his career, has far better ringcraft than Itauma does.
That experience for Whyte is vital. Take Itauma into deep waters, land shots on him that no one has been able to land so far, fight dirty, throw him off his game plan, and just be a complete nuisance.
The general consensus is that the longer this goes, the more it plays into Whyte’s hands. That’s not necessarily the case. If Whyte puts it on him early, he’ll make it really uncomfortable — and we’ll be able to tell quickly if Itauma is the real deal. But with that comes the risk of getting caught. It just depends on what Whyte values most — and knowing the dog in Whyte, he’d rather go out on his shield looking to take someone’s head off than bide his time on the back foot and look to counter.
For Itauma, the key thing is patience. Yes, Whyte may not be the Whyte of old, but this is still a man who carries freaky power and has fought pretty much every style possible in the paid ranks.
If he gets a breakthrough early, don’t rush your work and make mistakes. Bide your time, pick Whyte apart. He’s almost certainly got the speed advantage, and he needs to use that as much as possible. Use the feints with both hands and feet, mentally break Whyte as much as physically. If Whyte is still on two feet, he’s still got a legitimate chance — it’s up to Itauma to make sure he isn’t on two feet for all of the 30 minutes they’re fighting for.
Is Moses Itauma boxings next superstar? Find out THIS Saturday as he takes on heavyweight veteran Dillian Whyte, live exclusively on DAZN, the global home of boxing with over 185+ fights per year. Buy the PPV Now or Get it FREE with a DAZN annual plan HERE