Heavyweight prodigy Moses Itauma will take the most significant gamble of his young career on Aug. 16, squaring off against former title challenger Dillian Whyte in the main event of a Riyadh Season card aligned with the 2025 Esports World Cup.
At just 20 years old, Itauma (12-0, 10 KOs) has built momentum by dismantling veterans Mariusz Wach, Demsey McKean and Mike Balogun, stopping eight straight opponents and drawing whispers of “future champion.” But Whyte (31-3, 21 KOs) represents a different calculus: a granite-grizzled slugger who has shared rings with Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Alexander Povetkin. Although 37 and labeled shop-worn after a 2022 knockout loss to Fury, Whyte has stitched together three wins including stoppages of Christian Hammer and Ebenezer Tetteh to remind cynics that his left hook still carries danger.
For Itauma, victory would validate the buzz and fast-track him toward the heavyweight elite; defeat would expose raw seams in a résumé built largely against overmatched opposition. The matchmaking looks shrewd: Whyte is beatable enough to serve as a launching pad yet seasoned enough to test every inch of the Slovakian-British southpaw’s composure.
The co-main event high-stakes heavyweight shoot-out between Croatia’s former world-title challenger Filip “El Animal” Hrgović (18-1, 14 KOs) and Britain’s newly crowned national champion David Adeleye (14-1, 13 KOs). Hrgović enters off a bruising 10-round decision over Joe Joyce, while Adeleye vaults straight from his controversial stoppage of Jeamie Tshikeva into the deepest waters of his career.
Watch Adeleye vs. TKV highlights: Watch
Hrgović, whose lone defeat came to IBF king Daniel Dubois, owns résumé wins over Joyce and – contentiously – Zhilei Zhang. Adeleye has tasted Riyadh lights before, suffering a 2023 knockout to Fabio Wardley; victory here would erase that memory and catapult him into world contention, while defeat would cement Hrgović as the division’s most avoided “next man up.”
Talent from the lower weights also gets centre stage. Japanese phenom Hayato Tsutsumi (7-0, 4 KOs) faces slick southpaw Qais Ashfaq (13-3-1, 5 KOs) in a crossroads super-bantam bout. Tsutsumi can edge closer to fringe-world level with a decisive win; Ashfaq, a former British title challenger, seeks to reboot his career after a draw with Levi Giles.
The card also features Nick Ball defending his WBA featherweight crown against Australian challenger Sam Goodman, plus a fan-friendly 130-lb banger between ex-IBF champ Anthony Cacace and two-division hopeful Ray Ford. With heavyweights trading leather up top and prospects jostling below, the Esports World Cup-weekend bill has evolved into one of Saudi Arabia’s most stacked line-ups yet.
Fight card:
▪️Moses Itauma vs. Dillian Whyte, 12 rounds, heavyweight
▪️Filip Hrgovic vs. David Adeleye, 12 rounds, heavyweight
▪️Anthony Cacace vs. Raymond Ford, 12 rounds, for Cacace’s IBO and IBF super featherweight titles
▪️Nick Ball vs. Sam Goodman, 12 rounds, for Goodman’s WBO featherweight title
▪️Hayato Tsutsumi vs. Qais Ashfaq, 10 rounds, super featherweight
