By: Sean Crose
Every so often there are moments like this in heavyweight boxing. One thinks of Gerry Cooney’s destruction of Ken Norton decades ago or Mike Tyson’s flattening of Marvis Frazier less than 10 years after that. It seems that more than any other division, the heavyweight division will let you know when there’s a changing of the guard. And as of Saturday, there seems to be a changing of the guard in progress. Moses Itauma wiped out the game, determined and fit Dillian Whyte in England in less than a single round. There is no longer any question as to whether or not Itauma can fight on the big stage. The question now is who’s next?
Yet it’s worth keeping in mind that fighters who have blasted onto the scene by demolishing their elders, as was the case on Saturday, don’t always continue all the way to the top. Cooney, for instance, got as far as Larry Holmes but couldn’t best the the legendary champion. Plus In fairness Itauma should have to wait in line. Joseph Parker, for instance, has been waiting for a crack at divisional king Oleksandr Usyk for a while now. Then again, boxing being boxing, Jake Paul might have as good a chance at fighting Usyk before either Parker or Itauma do.
With all that being said, Itauma on Saturday showed yet again what kind of force he is in the ring. With lightning fast hands and thudding power the southpaw more than passes the eye test. If he keeps going at this rate, the future may well belong to him. This has been said by greater minds than this author’s. However, rushing Itauna along at this point might be dangerous. Yes, he beat a Dylan Whyte who was over the hill. And yes, it was impressive but it might be unfair to the man to stick him in the ring with the likes of Usyk right away.
Itauma is almost at the top of his game but may not be there just yet. It’s never okay for a talented rising contender to get pitted against the best in the business before he’s properly prepared to be. As things stand, however, Itauma is nothing if not a phenomenon of nature. The man’s well worth keeping an eye on, and may indeed be the future of the sport… let’s give him a chance to grow into the role first.
