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

Whyte certainly looks in shape and leaner not just from those pictures but also from the training videos and interviews.

I still think Whyte will beat Itauma purely as he is more proven and I suspect that Whyte has more to the tank than it seems to the eye. If we get the Whyte that is close enough to his prime, it will be a long long night for Itauma. I expect Itauma to look brilliant in the first four rounds but when the bodywork creeps in, and the chin test gets tougher and tougher, we'll see the more experienced man come out on top.

For me, it goes to show that if Itauma beats Whyte it would be an excellent victory that propels Itauma to the top 10.

 

It's a real possibility, especially if Itauma is overlooking him which seems to be the case.

 

If Itauma is any good at all he should be winning this easily.

But even if he does it won’t prove much because nobody really knows how much Whyte has declined.

If Whyte wins then Itauma really should give it away.

 

Never thought that highly of Whyte but he did beat plenty of good heavyweights. On that DAZN agree/disagree show they had David Allen going against the other pundits/former British fighters and say Itauma really has not been tested yet and we really have no idea how well he takes a punch. Itauma has more or less done what he has supposed to have done.

Whyte on his best day has an effective jab, dangerous left hook, solid body punching and can fight rough/dirty

My pick is Itauma by stoppage but I would not be shocked in the least if Whyte beat him or took him to the brink

 

Maybe.

 

When Whyte is in great shape a positive test often follows.

Hopefully he's done it through sheer hard work this time and gives a good account of himself.

 

Yes Itaumas people are flying him too close to the sun and too quick. I don't even think Whyte was that good but he is a big jump in competition. And while Whytes never contending for titles ever again he is not washed.

The best case for Itauma is he barely beats Whyte and they pump the brakes find some issues to work on. If Moses destroys Whyte hes likely going to get a true top opponent who beats him badly.

 

I've been watching Itauma's fights back this week and man, his opponents have really just been hand picked to make him look good. He hasn't been tested whatsoever. These guys aren't even trying to give him looks. They're just cringing away from him and then falling over as soon as he touches them.

Demsey McKean would probably be considered his best opponent. Moses gives him the most obvious and over exaggerated feint to the body and McKean bites on it worse than Ngannou was biting on AJ's feints. Then Moses does it again, McKean bites like crazy again, and Moses comes over the top with a goober of a punch that he puts his whole body into. If you try that against a legit world level guy like a Parker or Fury or heaven forbid an Usyk you get wildly punished for it. Instead, Moses is getting a highlight reel knockout.

He's been winning all his fights so far just on pure athleticism basically. He has fast hands, he's strong (though I think his punching power is a bit overrated at the moment), and he's got good reaction speed. But there's little to no technique involved that I can see so far. He over commits on shots when he doesn't need to. His distance management still needs a lot of work. He leaves himself wide open a lot of the time when he's throwing. His feet also have a tendency to get stuck in the mud which ends up having him reaching on his shots. You also don't see any of the typical Southpaw stuff from him like taking that big step outside to line up the power hand. He naturally obtains that position sometimes because his opponents are so garbage, but you rarely see him making a conscious decision to step outside. Has no clinch game whatsoever and is easily tied up, but of course he hasn't needed one yet.

I did see him employ his lead hand well against Wach getting it over the top of Wach's lead hand. So that was promising. He obviously has tons of confidence and isn't afraid to bang it out, though with the people he's been put in with he probably isn't concerned about any return fire at all. I think if he had some legit trainers instead of Boxercise Ben and you gave him another year or two he'd be a serious problem for anybody. As it stands, he's like a much more fluid and quick Southpaw version of Fabio Wardley. All athleticism and aggression and little to no actual technique. I think he'd struggle big time with any of the bigger names in the division. Usyk, Fury, Kabayel, AJ (if his head is screwed on right), and Parker would wreck him. Dubois, Miller, Ruiz (if he was in shape), and Bakole would also probably blast him out of there because they aren't just gonna fall over after being hit once.

This is kinda the world we live in now though. It's all gimmie gimmie gimmie right now. So if Whyte's chin is truly cracked and Moses burns through him quick, I imagine they'll be lining him up with Parker next. That won't go well. There's a reason you bring guys up slowly. The levels in boxing are steep and brutal. You go from guys who can hardly throw a punch with good form and who disappear as soon as you sneeze in their general direction to guys who are feinting you, setting traps, can eat monster shots, and punish you for small mistakes.

 

Upset is possible but unlikely. By definition.

 

that’s mostly his overhand left no? He’s so fast though that he seems to be able to get away with it.

 

Great shape doesn't mean your reflexes are still there

Itauma is significantly faster than Whyte, has better form and greater punch selection.

Just watch the way Whyte walks, his bio-mechanics are weird. He does this weird step as he walks. It's not an act. It's just the way his limbs and torso and twist fibres are connected.

If Whyte started training at a younger age he might have been able to overcome alot of these things but at this age anytime he gets his or in a panic situation he will revert to type; slug it out, square up, get backed up and get caught.

 

It depends why the vast majority are backing a particular fighter...

If there's a widely held delusion, for whatever reason, then the upset can be entirely likely and yet still shock a majority.

Call me cynical, but some narratives take hold so hard that it's not impossible for this to happen...

Is this one of those cases? Maybe - the narrative that Whyte is shot beyond redemption could be over-exagerrated, and Itauma's presumed ceiling as a future champion could easily be a nonsense... Either way, it's going to be fun finding out!

 

So far...

And "how far" can he continue to get away with it?

It was always the question with Wilder - he was obviously flawed, but he got away with it, and it worked fine against journeymen and the occasional gatekeeper... But then he never beat a proper contender.

Will Itauma fix any issues as he goes along? Will he test himself more and get into situations where he learns on the job?
Will he go all the way?

So many questions to be answered - he looks promising, but so many prospects do right up until the moment they don't.

 

Upsets are always possible in HW boxing.