I rate Whyte much higher than Rice and Hunter, beating Whyte inside one is incredible personally. Ruiz would be a good one though.
Although they are not as dangerous as Whyte, Rice and Hunter are more durable and would not be stopped on round one.
Ruiz is a good shout imo Would definitely land a couple back to get that chin check out of the way. Ruiz has shown a very good chin through his career as well so should make Itauma work for some rounds, and I reckon he'd even pinch a few rounds and we'd get to see how Itauma reacts when it isn't all going his way. If Itauma got through that one in good fashion I'd start getting very excited about him
This post exactly. And I'd add in his twitchyness, reflexes, and how surprisingly light he is on his toes for being 245lbs. As I've said though, the boxing gods never give it all to one man. One of the three categories to be checked that you mentioned is going to be the issue, we just don't know yet. He seems pretty even tempered and able to handle pressure, so my guess is that the issue is chin or gas tank. If it's gas tank... then lol, he's basically a 6'4" young Mike Tyson. Obviously Tyson could go 12 rounds but he was much less dangerous after 6. If it's chin... well **** that's going to be boring because he's going to have to morph into Wlad.
Why isn't Ituama's team targeting Ruiz? Ruiz has a good chin and will at least make it out of the first round, hell, he might even give Ituama a bit of a fight for a few rounds. Ruiz is a former unified champ -- by far the best name Ituama could get on his resume for the least actual danger. And with how inactive Ruiz has been, I'm betting his bank account ain't what it was, so he'd probably be game for it if Turki got involved. Why this talk about Hrgovic? Ruiz's name would look much better. Only real benefit to Hrgovic is that he'd be cheaper to get.
That's the thing eh? The names (and there have been plenty since the Whyte fight) we've heard from his team, promoter, etc. aren't really a step up. I mean Pulev? FFS. I'm a big fan of 20 to learn, 20 to earn and maybe they're thinking the step up fights are in the 17 - 20 range. That's what I'd be doing with him for sure. Spend the next couple of years and half a dozen fights against the Pulev's of the world. Try and get rounds and experience and a few recognizable names who aren't what they once were. My pet theory is they want to eat their cake and have it too by having him headlining PPV while being brought along slowly which is just a **** take imo. But one Frank can get away with because of Itauma's profile.
He is but he could easily get chinned also. Unless he's hiding that Parker/Kabayel level chin which would almost guarantee him to become a world champ as long as he keeps developing.
Itauma is a very exciting prospect who looks to be on course for big things but l want to see further evidence before believing he is the next big thing at world level. Can he take a punch? Has he got stamina? How big is his heart? Can he live the life? Let's get some answers before we start wetting our pants with over excitement.
He is looking great so far and doing everything he should be. But since everything he does right and what hasn't been seen from him yet has already been covered by everyone else, I'm just going to mention a couple orange flags which could be an issue in the future. Firstly he has said that he has a "complicated" relationship with cardio, and seeing how quick his fights have been so far, his cardio and stamina may not be the best. The other thing is he said that Ben Davison had to convince him that he secretly liked boxing. Which implies that he didn't like boxing before, and its not the kind of sport that treats non-dedicated people well. These two things could lead to him relaxing and not trying as hard once he tastes some success, or losing heart if he hits some failures/setbacks, especially since he has yet to taste defeat in the amateurs or pros, or even in sparring from the sound of it.
i saw that too. what's this complicated relationship ****? if you're a pro boxer, you need stamina. GTF out there and run. heavyweights are so weird about that. you don't hear some guy at LW complain about doing cardio. Shakur doesn't have a fight booked and I'd bet you he ran at least 5mi this morning.
Granted it's been awhile, but he looked frustrated and also a bit gassed in those fights that went the distance earlier in his career. Losing record journeymen who aren't throwing punches back at him and Itauma is in a flop sweat with his activity falling off a cliff when he can't get them out of there. And those are six rounders. Potential stamina and chin issues aside, he's got plenty of technical flaws as well that are being masked by his abysmal level of competition and his athleticism. Zero head movement, moves in straight lines, his entire defense comes from him moving his feet, bow and arrows himself when throwing the lead hand, still has distance management problems but this gets covered up by his speed a lot of the time, and he leaves his chin hanging in the air when he starts opening up his offense. None of these issues have been punished so far because he's been in with no hopers and old, shot 40+ guys just there for a paycheck. Tons of talent, obviously, but the kid needs another year at least before you put him in with the top guys in the division. And that's assuming Boxercise Ben actually helps him improve which hasn't been the case for anyone else that has had him as a trainer. Though some special types think he's ready to face Usyk and clean HW out tomorrow. /facepalm
Virtually no amateur experience as well (never got past youths bouts vs opponents with an average of 10 or less fights) so all his boxing experience so far in his life has basically been against no hopers or opponents just showing up to lose.
Anyone with the idea of an Usyk fight is insane. If guys on a forum can see some flaws, Usyk will see way more. And exploit them. It wouldn’t be pretty.