Heavyweight prodigy Moses Itauma faces a step up in class when he takes on former world title challenger Dillian Whyte in Riyadh on Saturday night.
Itauma, 20, has been hyped as the next big thing in the division. He already has a high ranking with several of the sanctioning bodies after amassing a 12-0 record, including 10 knockouts and seven in the first round. The WBO even have him as their number one ranked contender.
He is, however, yet to face an opponent as seasoned as Whyte, who can lean on the experience of sharing the ring with Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Derek Chisora and Joseph Parker during a 14-year professional career.
After two years in the wilderness, the British heavyweight was thrown a lifeline earlier in 2025 when he was matched with the division’s hottest property.
Whyte has been forced to clear his name from drug accusations three times – the latest in 2023 after a rematch with Joshua collapsed due to a positive test, which was later found to be the result of a contaminated supplement.
Nevertheless, it pushed Whyte (31-3, 21 KOs) even further away from a desired second world title bout after his 2022 loss to Fury – until being given a shot at redemption this weekend.
But former WBC interim heavyweight champion Whyte is a huge outsider versus Itauma, who has earned comparisons to Mike Tyson with his knockout power.
The bout tops a five-fight main card in the Saudi capital which has been timed to coincide with the Esports World Cup.
When is Itauma v Whyte?
Moses Itauma versus Dillian Whyte takes place on Saturday, August 16, 2025, at the ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
What time does it start?
The two fighters are expected to make their ring walks at 12.20am local time, which translates to 1.20am UAE time and 10.20pm in the UK and 5.20pm ET and 2.20pm PT in the US.
- Date: Saturday, August 16
- Event start time: 8.45pm UAE; 5.45pm UK; 12.45pm ET / 9.45am PT
- Itauma v Whyte main event ring walks (approx): 1.20am UAE; 10.20pm UK; 5.20pm ET; 2.20pm PT
Where is it being held?
Formerly known as The Venue, the 8,000-capacity arena has hosted several combat sports events since it opened its doors as a Riyadh Season venue in October 2024. ANB Arena is located in Hittin, next to Kingdom Arena and Boulevard World.
The full undercard
- Nick Ball vs Sam Goodman (WBA featherweight title)
- Ray Ford vs Abraham Nova (super featherweight)
- Filip Hrgovic vs David Adeleye (heavyweight)
- Hayato Tsutsumi vs Qais Ashfaq (featherweight)
How to watch
The event will be screened worldwide by Dazn.
Prediction
There's no doubt that Whyte is by far the most experienced fighter Itauma has faced so far, but he has been inactive and looked poor when he has boxed. Itauma, put simply, is all wrong for Whyte at this late stage of his career.
Whyte will hope to get through the early onslaught and take Itauma into deep waters but it is a big ask.
Itauma's speed and aggression should be too much for Whyte with the younger man earning a stoppage in the first half of the bout.
Itauma by KO
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Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
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Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.
Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.
Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.
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2012-2015
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May 2017
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September 2021
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Grand Slams titles
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