Whyte is in great physical shape, is an upset possible?

An upset is definitely possible, going beyond Itauma not having his chin tested and Whyte having KO power with power being the last thing to go.

I saw a recent interview with Itauma where he said he is not going to lose or be KO'd because he believes it. Just a little bit of a red flag imo.

I can't help but feel that Itauma is being set up for a Ben Davison special, where his fighters have all the confidence in the world, but as soon as an opponent goes off script, the script being the plan that Davison has put in his fighters mind, they don't know what to do.

The biggest example of this is of course Dubois vs Joshua, but there are so many fighters of Davison who have had the same scenario play out.

So even if Itauma gets through this unscathed, he is being set up for a bad loss.

 

Looking at Whyte, he does look a bit leaner than usual. If his power and speed are truly gone, then I expect him to try and old man Itauma.

Get him to blow his load early and drag the fight into the later rounds where Itauma hasn't been before and where the more experienced and leaner Whyte will still have stamina.

 

If he's anywhere near his best, it's a huge, huge step up for Itauma.

The Whyte that lost to Pov, for instance, probably stops most of the division - and gives Itauma a humbling ala Joyce-Dubois.

But being in shape doesn't guarantee performance... we'll see!

 

It's probably just lead up to getting brutally knocked out in the first round by an uppercut.

 

Ituama’s money punch is that big looping overhand left. Don’t recall him throwing a lot of uppercuts? (But yes I know Whyte’s history)

 

History tells us that recent form - rather than how a fighter looks physically - is the best indicator of what sort of performance to expect. That being the case I still expect an Itauma win.

 

He is in good shape yes but his body mechanics are still terrible, especially when backing up

He constantly crosses his feet and also squares up so walks into uppercuts. He is good on the front foot though because he can throw in volume and has a ramrod jab

 

Generally, yes very much so.

So long as Whyte is most of how bad he's been lately, I'd agree.

 

The exceptions typically come when you have a fighter who's particularly bad for "fighting down to the level of their opponents" - and even more so if they're the sort that only trains properly for what they see as a challenge...

Is Whyte one of those? Sometimes, sure.
Does that entirely excuse how poor he looked against Tetteh and Franklin? Probably not.

The fact he's in good shape shows motivation and a determination not to waste a chance... The question now is whether he's capable of pulling it off.

 

"Upset"?

Itauma is seen as the favorite in this fight? A 20 year old green boxer with zero amateur background and very pathetic professional career, how can he be seen as the favorite against a well seasoned ex world title challenger?

The only way Itauma wins this is if Whyte takes a dive.

 

I think it's definitely the case that Ituama's team has assumed Whyte is shot, were assuming he was going to show up to lose in exchange for his purse. Whyte seems to have other ideas. That said, I still think Ituama is a heavy favorite.

However... anyone remember Ray Mercer vs. Larry Holmes? Just saying. Throwing a prospect in against a vet can go horribly wrong.

 

Itauma shouldn't be the favourite, Whyte is good, it's mostly marketing. But I do give Itauma a good 3/10 chance to KO and maybe 50/50 for a win

 

I am not on board the Moses Itauma hype train but at this point of Whyte's career, he's primarily a gatekeeper and any decent prospect should be favored against him. The steroid controversies + flat performances following Povetkin 1 suggest that he barely has anything left in the tank.

It's a real shame because Whyte was a legitimate contender at one point, excellent counterpunching, good power, and an underrated jab. Entertaining boxer and gave us the excellent fights with Chisora + was looking very sharp in the first Povetkin fight until the KO punch. Hoping he can turn back the hands of time for this fight and derail the hype train (because it has become ridiculous at this point), but I don't think it'll happen.

 

It's certainly could be a really interesting fight. Whyte looks motivated and whilst physically he's well past it, he's got oodles of experience plus likely still some power to make this interesting.

I've not seen the build up yet but if Whyte starts mouthing of and does loads of trash tarkin' then we could be in for a really good scrap. I still favour Itauma 75:25 though mainly due to the gulf in speed. Itauma has very quick hands and Whyte is really slow and plodding these days