Power Hitting Moses Itauma Stops Dillian Whyte in First Round, Hrgovic Outpoints Adeleye on DAZN
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (August 17th, 2025)– In the preview, this reporter noted knockdowns would affect scoring, and it would be to Moses Itauma’s advantage to do so. On Saturday, August 16, 2025, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Itauma, knocked down Dillian Whyte, and then finished him for a TKO at 1:59 of the first round, to retain the World Boxing Organisation Inter-Continental Heavyweight title, on a six bout DAZN card.
The southpaw Itauma, 13-0 with 11 knockouts, Chatham, Kent, United Kingdom, landed 19 punches in the brief affair, while Whyte, 31-4 with 21 knockouts, Brixton, London, United Kingdom, threw 12 punches. 42% of Itauma’s punches which landed were body shots, 67% of Itauma’s punches were power shots. The real element seemed to be Whyte being absolutely petrified of Itauma, moving like a frightened rabbit in what appeared to be an extremely small ring.
Years ago, Ron Lyle remarked he should not have been afraid of Gerry Cooney. The Itauma versus Whyte bout did not look right from the start. If you are going to be afraid of your opponent, like Mike Spinks was against Mike Tyson back in the day, then the bout will end that way. Mike Tyson subsequently lost to Danny Williams and Kevin McBride. Gerry Cooney subsequently lost to Michael Spinks and George Foreman. I tall makes ono sense, but it’s not supposed to make sense. Dillian Whyte lost to Alexander Povetkin, the Povetkin conveniently returned to lose a rematch to Whyte. In January 2006, this reporter was in Madison Square Garden when O’Neill Bell Jena Marc Mormeck in the tenth round in a bout which did not look right. Itauma versus Whyte was a bout which remains hard to qualify. Perhaps Itauma’s power, perhaps Whyte’s fear, perhaps Whyte got caught.
One key point was Whyte stood in front of Itauma, when he should have been moving and getting out of range. Whyte’s jabs were completely short, while Itauma’s jabs were fired and landed with blinding speed. Itauma was landing body and head pinpoint crisp combinations. Whyte was just too flat footed, and Ituama quickly cut off the ring and walked Whyte down. Whyte was standing in from of Itauma offering an easy target in what appeared a much smaller ring. Whyte wound up in a corner and on the ropes not fighting back.
Much like Michael Moorer did in the tenth round against George Foreman, Whyte was standing in front of Itauma, allowing him to fire punches at short, close range. Whyte beat the count, rising in a corner, wobbling all over the place, when the bout was stopped. Whyte’s corner had to have had a game plan for this bout. Whyte most certainly did not follow that plan. He just stood in front of him. A key issue in heavyweight bouts is maneuverability. Whyte seemed to be standing in front of Itauma, trying to feel him out to determine whether Itauma’s power really had any validity against a higher-level heavyweight. In his rematch with heavyweight power hitter Earnie Shavers, Larry Holmes wound up standing in front of Shavers for a flash, and got decked. Whyte did what he was not supposed to do, and got burned, probably meaning the end of his career. Itauma, with this win, may have a hard time finding opponents. Perhaps Usyk versus Itauma, if Itauma gets a few more big wins, could be a bout of major interest.
One possible future opponent who fought on this card was Filip Hrgovic, 19-1 with 14 knockouts, Zagreb, Croatia, who survived a gushing cut over the right eye from a jab thrown by David Adeleye, 14-2 with 13 knockouts, Ladbroke Grove, London, United Kingdom, to outwork him over 10 rounds and claim a unanimous 10 round decision win, and retain the World Boxing Organisation International Heavyweight title and win the World Boxing Association Continental Gold Heavyweight title.
Adeleye landed some big shots, however, Hrgovic unloaded with both hands frequently and throughout. Adeleye appeared to be running out of steam when Hrgovic dropped him with a right hand in round eight. Adeleye came back winging with head power shots and had Hrgovic spinning dizzy in the ring. Adeleye punched himself out, though, allowing Hrgovic to survive. In the end, Hrgovic won with scorecards of 98-91, 99-90 and 99-90. Hrgovic according to CompuBox stats, landed 228 of his 510 punches (44.7 percent) to David Adeleye’s landing 92 of 244 attempts (37.7 percent). Hrgovic threw and landed twice as many blows than Adeleye and proved in better condition overall down the stretch. Adeleye and trainer Abel Sanchez will have to go back to the drawing board.
Other Saudi Arabia Card Results
Nick Ball Win 12 Sam Goodman, Featherweights
Scoring: 118-110, 117-111, 115-113 for Liverpool’s 23-0-1 Ball over 20-0 visiting Australian Goodman. The three scorecards went three different ways. Ball clearly did enough to win.
Raymond Ford Win 10 Abraham Nova, Super Featherweights
Hayato Tsutsumi TKO 3 Qais Ashfaq, Super Featherweights
Mohammed Alakel KO 1 Yumnam Santosh Singh, Super Featherweights (Opening bout)
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