Itauma vs Zhang?

If I were handling Itauma, I would try and get him out 3 times in the year, and go:

Martin (former champ, southpaw, better than people like to admit, but ultimately flawed. A gatekeeper)

Makhmudov (just to get some rounds, and used to fighting giants)

Chisora (if he’s still around, unlikely, for pressure and trench warfare)

At that point, might as well get on with it. Either straight into real title fights, or go for some of the top contenders (Zhang, Bakole, Hrgovic, etc)

 

Even a 41 year old Zhang seemingly on the slide still packs a murderous right hand. He's scored 3 KD's and 2 KO's and 1 TKO in his last 5 fights. Itauma is a great prospect but it's up for grabs whether he can survive the early rounds when Zhang is most lethal. Way, way too dangerous an opponent for Itauma at this point for him.

 

Sure, but there's obviously a huge difference between babying a prospect and throwing them in with a fringe contender when they've not been anywhere near a proper gatekeeper yet.

Depends on their personality, and how they lose...

Some will come back, some will never be the same again - maybe the second group were never going to make it, or maybe they would've if not for mismanagement... But you'll never know, and nor will they.

Sure - Dubois has come back really well, but many fighters wouldn't have.

I tend to rate him a fringe contender - he legitimately has a decent punchers chance even against the top guys, but he's not really one of them (I would say the same for Wilder, probably even in his prime although we'll never know for sure thanks to his resume)... He wasn't that far off stopping Parker, even if he ultimately failed.

Still absolutely not the kind of guy you throw your prospects in with.

It's a huge, huge jump - from shot Wach and McKean to Zhang is levels upon levels.

I don't share your optimism - in his prime, if he lives up to the hype then it'd be no problem... But not yet.

 

There is no reason for Itauma to fight Zhang.

Its a lose lose proposition. If he wins, he has beaten an old man who has lost 2 of his last 4 fights.

If he gets caught by a big Zhang punch, he goes down as the next David Price.

If Itauama is going to take a risk, it makes more sense to risk it vs a lion like Kabayel. But even that is too early to risk.

Itauama needs to fight someone like Huni. Maybe a Wardley or a Sanchez. But not a lose lose proposition like Zhang.

 

Ituma has barely been in a fight yet - he's had it all his own way so while Zhang is probably on the slide, one punch might be all he needs.
I think Ituma needs rounds, he needs a guy whos going to try and win and not go gun shy at the first sign on trouble, but the shots coming back also need to be manageable. Someone further up mentioned Franklin, that's not a bad shout.

 

Thing is, I'm not saying Zhang is some unbeatable monster - he's literally 3-3-1 against top-200 ranked fighters...

I just think Itauma is getting very overrated for a prospect who hasn't fought a gatekeeper yet...
It's a tale as old as time, talented kid makes some waves at journeyman level and gets hyped as already a legit contender, then fights their first gatekeeper and gets destroyed - just ask Jared Anderson, for the most recent example.

Not saying Itauma isn't capable of going up the levels, but the process is part of reaching the destination - challenges that are too big, too soon are a lose-lose: the fighter learns nothing when there's too much between them (doesn't benefit) and risks lasting damage physically/mentally...

Sometimes young fighters come back, but those one-sided losses don't necessarily teach them very much - take Dubois, who clearly is capable of losing and continuing to make progress...
Can you honestly say he learned anything about fast thinking, ring IQ, etc from the loss to Joyce, where all he had to face was a slow man with a good chin and throwing pretty much only a stiff jab?
Or did he learn anything from a one-sided loss to Usyk, a fight where his only success came from deliberate fouling? Perhaps the only thing he learned there is not all boxing referees have inch thick cataracts and lick the windows in their spare time.


Some stiff challenges will do Itauma good - it's just there's a difference between stiff and silly challenges, and I think Zhang is clearly a silly one still.

 

Zhang, and I really don't feel the need to elaborate why...........