Moses Itauma blew away Dillian Whyte with a devastating first-round knockout in their all-British heavyweight clash in Riyadh.
The 20-year-old extended his perfect record through 13 professional fights as he sent veteran Whyte sprawling to the canvas inside two minutes. It was Itauma's 11th KO win and his eighth inside a round.
Former WBC interim heavyweight champion Whyte, 37, was not given any time to settle as Itauma – who had been made to wait in the ring by a delayed walk-in from his British rival – immediately went on the front foot.
Kent southpaw Itauma tested Whyte with a series of early jabs before more ruthless combinations sent him back on to the ropes.
Another powerful right hook sent Whyte crashing to the floor and although he stumbled back on to his feet, the referee stepped in to wave off the contest with just over a minute left of the first round.
On the back of another hugely impressive display, the calls will continue to grow for Slovakia-born Itauma to be handed a world title shot in 2026.
“That’s what I’ve been drilling for 12, 13 weeks,” Itauma told the BBC. “I have trained hard for this [so] I didn’t want it to be over in the first round.
“I put on a performance for you guys, so it’s now who’s next?
“I don’t want to call out [undisputed world heavyweight champion Oleksandr] Usyk because I don’t believe I deserve the opportunity – but guys that do deserve the opportunity, I want to fight those lot.
“So maybe Agit Kabayel, maybe Joseph Parker. Maybe them type of names. As of right now, I am going to rest and then maybe be back in the gym.”
Itauma seemed irked as Whyte left him hanging around in the ring for several minutes as he walked second in the Saudi capital. Designed to unsettle the youngster, the move failed to have the desired effect and it was one-way traffic from the first bell.
Whyte, who failed to land a single blow of any note, has been inactive and is likely looking at the end of a career that saw him once challenge Tyson Fury for the heavyweight title.
Long tipped by pundits as a future champion, Itauma's latest success – the most significant of his young career – will only increase the hype.
Speaking afterwards, veteran promoter Frank Warren said he is among the top talents he has ever worked with.
“Without a doubt [he's one of the best prospects],” he told Dazn. "He's done everything we've asked, and how he's done it, he's the most unbelievable finisher.
“If he catches you, you're in trouble. You think about the three losses on Dillian's record, they're world champions, real quality fighters, guys who have been at the top of the game.
“In one round, he caught him. The game plan from [trainer] Ben [Davison] and the team, they got it absolutely perfect. I thought it would be a bit longer than that.
“But he's done it in style. He's a phenomenal finisher. He catches you. He doesn't get flustered. He' gets space on his shots, he doesn't fall into the opponent.
“Every shot he throws is a hurtful punch, a well-measured punch. He's an unbelievable talent, probably one of the best at this stage of his career that I've ever been involved with.”
Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah To The Last Goodbye
By Dave Lory with Jim Irvin
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
Company profile
Name: Thndr
Started: October 2020
Founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: pre-seed of $800,000
Funding stage: series A; $20 million
Investors: Tiger Global, Beco Capital, Prosus Ventures, Y Combinator, Global Ventures, Abdul Latif Jameel, Endure Capital, 4DX Ventures, Plus VC, Rabacap and MSA Capital
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 1 (Greenwood 77')
Everton 1 (Lindelof 36' og)
If you go
The flights
The closest international airport for those travelling from the UAE is Denver, Colorado. British Airways (www.ba.com) flies from the UAE via London from Dh3,700 return, including taxes. From there, transfers can be arranged to the ranch or it’s a seven-hour drive. Alternatively, take an internal flight to the counties of Cody, Casper, or Billings
The stay
Red Reflet offers a series of packages, with prices varying depending on season. All meals and activities are included, with prices starting from US$2,218 (Dh7,150) per person for a minimum stay of three nights, including taxes. For more information, visit red-reflet-ranch.net.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
More on animal trafficking
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
The%20specs
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Pots for the Asian Qualifiers
Pot 1: Iran, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, China
Pot 2: Iraq, Uzbekistan, Syria, Oman, Lebanon, Kyrgyz Republic, Vietnam, Jordan
Pot 3: Palestine, India, Bahrain, Thailand, Tajikistan, North Korea, Chinese Taipei, Philippines
Pot 4: Turkmenistan, Myanmar, Hong Kong, Yemen, Afghanistan, Maldives, Kuwait, Malaysia
Pot 5: Indonesia, Singapore, Nepal, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Mongolia, Guam, Macau/Sri Lanka
