Just a few minutes after Moses Itauma blew out the faded Dillian Whyte in less than one round in Riyadh, I received this text message from Mychal Thompson. Yes, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 Mychal Thompson, to younger folks he's the father of Klay Thompson (one half of the 'Splash Brothers' of the Golden State Warriors) but to me he's 'the Kevin McHale Stopper', who won a pair of NBA titles with the Lakers in the late 80's.
He's also an avid boxing fan -- and a staunch advocate of Itauma.
"Moses is ready...Mo vs Usyk next, Turki," was the text message at 2:49 pm, Pacific Time on Saturday afternoon. "Tyson was a champ at 20...Y not Moses?''
After I pointed out that Whyte was basically a hollowed out version of himself, he later added, "And if Itauma loses, so what... Holyfield lost and still came back."
Mychal Thompson Lakers
OK, fair point, but it should be pointed out that Holyfield before capturing the heavyweight title in 1990 versus Buster Douglas had already become the undisputed cruiserweight king. 'the Real Deal' didn't suffer his first defeat till he was defending his heavyweight crown against Riddick Bowe in 1992. But I get what he was saying, losses are not career killers. Or at least they shouldn't be.
"Theez guys are babied too much...Hell beat any top 10 heavyweight so put him in vs Usyk. He'll make 50 million instead of 1 or 2 million in his next fight," he continued. Again, that's another point I agree with.
So yeah, Thompson -- who is a color analyst for the Lakers and can be heard on ESPN Los Angeles -- is a believer in Itauma. He's actually been a fan of his for awhile, it wasn't just this past weekend that got him on the bandwagon. Thompson has been driving this bus for a bit.
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And there are more and more fans getting their seats on the Itauma Express. This much is clear, he is the games best young heavyweight. But that does necessarily mean that he's ready to go from washed out Whyte to Usyk?
Coming into this fight, Itauma was not even ranked in the Ring Magazine top 10. But as you look at their ratings, from number ten to six (Efe Ajagbe, Martin Bakole, Zhilei Zhang, Fabio Wardley and Filip Hrgovic) how many guys would you pick to defeat him at this point and time? Just my opinion, but I'd favor him right now to beat Ajagbe, Wardley and Hrgovic pretty clearly. While the size of Bakole and Zhang give me some concern, their recent outings haven't been all that impressive.
From five through one, you have the likes of Anthony Joshua, Daniel Dubois, Agit Kabayel, Joseph Parker and Tyson Fury. This is where you have more doubts about Itauma given his relative lack of seasoning and experience.
Currently, Itauma is listed as number one by the WBO (which has Usyk as their 'super champion, and Parker as their interim), and he's as high as number two in the WBC. So he is considered a legitimate heavyweight contender.
Queensberry Promotions
There is plenty to like about this southpaw whirlwind. He has power in both fists and fast hands, and a full arsenal of punches. He moves well for a heavyweight. Keep this in mind, he's listed at 6'4 and came in at 235.5 pounds this past weekend. So while not a giant by today's standards, Itauma is not small by any stretch. What makes him so intriguing is that he's an all-action fighter who sparks out his foes in explosive fashion.
Perhaps that's in large part due to the matchmaking, but there's no doubt that he has created a significant buzz. It was part of the allure of one Mike Tyson, who revived interest in a rather moribund heavyweight era of the 80's by scoring a series of devastating knockouts on his way up. Eventually, he became the youngest heavyweight champion as he blew out Trevor Berbick in November of 1986 at the age of 20 years, four months and 22 days.
Many believe that Itauma wants to be put on a similar path but it has to be noted that in the lead up to Berbick that he faced the likes of James 'Quik' Tillis and Jesse Ferguson, who provided 'Iron' Mike with quality rounds and much needed seasoning. It was one of the 13 fights he had that year. To put that into perspective, Itauma's current record is 13-0(11 KOs). Yeah, the game has changed a bit.
Queensberry Promotions
With that said, is a fighter who has less than 40 rounds under his belt, ready to deal with the multi-dimensional skills of Usyk?
But the reality is that the decision to make these fights isn't always about the readiness of a fighter, and it's certainly not about what the fans want, but really this: is the reward worth the risk? If Mr. Alalshikh offered up the money that Thompson texted, then it would make sense for both sides to explore this possibility.
Keep this in mind, Usyk is now 38. He's much closer to the end of his career than the beginning. The reality is that he doesn't have that many more fights left in him. So for Itauma, it may be sooner rather than later for this to become a reality.
