Latest news with #DillianWhyte
BreakingNews.ie
an hour ago
- Sport
- BreakingNews.ie
Dillian Whyte still harbours world title hopes ahead of Moses Itauma clash
Dillian Whyte knows he is about to step into the ring with the 'next Mike Tyson' but still believes he can end his boxing story with a world title. After two years in the wilderness, British heavyweight Whyte, 37, was thrown a lifeline earlier in 2025 when he was matched with the division's hottest prospect in Moses Itauma (12-0, 10KOs) on Saturday night in Riyadh. Advertisement It is the latest hurdle in a life of ups and downs for Whyte, who was born in Jamaica and forced to 'eat from trash cans' before he was brought up in Brixton. Trouble was never far away but kick-boxing and then boxing helped him onto the straight and narrow. Dillian Whyte is still feeling himself 😎 #WhyteItauma | Aug 16th | @ringmagazine | #RiyadhSeason — Queensberry Promotions (@Queensberry) August 9, 2025 A career in professional sport has thrown up almighty challenges with Whyte forced to clear his name from drug accusations three times – the latest in 2023 after a rematch with Anthony Joshua collapsed due to a positive drugs test, which was later found to be as a result of a contaminated supplement. Nevertheless, it pushed Whyte (31-3, 21KOs) even further away from a much-craved second world title bout after his 2022 loss to Tyson Fury until being given a shot at redemption this weekend. 'I never thought I would be a heavyweight boxer or a heavyweight champion doing good. Obviously I got in trouble, started to do a little bit of training to stay out of trouble and then kick-boxing fell on my lap and saved my life,' Whyte reflected. Advertisement 'I was meant to be dead or in prison by my twenties but to overcome this, raise a family myself, it shows that anything is possible if you believe. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) 'I would love to win a world title. If I can win a world title then I've had an amazing career. 'I had a version of it, but if I can win a full world title, then people that come from my background, where I have come, the way I got into boxing, for me that's an amazing story to inspire people.' Former WBC interim heavyweight champion Whyte is a huge outsider versus 20-year-old Itauma, who has earned comparisons to Mike Tyson with his knock-out power. Advertisement However, Whyte can lean on the experience of sharing the ring with Anthony Joshua, Fury, Derek Chisora and Joseph Parker during a 14-year professional career. 'These last few years have taught me that this is what I do, this is what I love doing and I need to take advantage of it, focus on it and appreciate it. Here today, gone tomorrow,' Whyte added. 'Today Moses is the next Mike Tyson. He is great, amazing and they talk about him fighting (Oleksandr) Usyk. I go in there, he does his thing, I catch him and blow him up. Then what? People say he's not good any more? Sport Michael Conlan eyes final push as he headlines 3Ar... Read More 'My mindset is no-one wants to fight Moses, he is a great fighter, young, sharp and full of beans. You have to believe in yourself and take risks. Advertisement 'That is what my life is all about. Showing people, my family and my kids, and people in general, you have to take risks to get to places. 'I ain't got nothing to lose. What have I got to lose? I'm a nobody. I'm being compared to a journeyman in the 90s and 80s, he is being compared to Mike Tyson.'
Arab News
4 hours ago
- Sport
- Arab News
Rising heavyweight star Moses Itauma set to face ultimate test against Dillian Whyte in Riyadh
RIYADH: Undefeated phenom Moses Itauma (12-0, 10 KOs), one of boxing's brightest young contenders, will put his perfect record on the line when he takes on battle-hardened veteran Dillian 'The Body Snatcher' Whyte (31-3, 21 KOs) in a generational collision on Aug. 16 in Riyadh. For the latest updates, follow us @ArabNewsSport The announcement of the heavyweight bout came on Monday as part of the Esports World Cup Festival underway in the Kingdom. Both fighters revealed their mindsets to Arab News on the sidelines of the gaming spectacle, framing the bout as career-defining. For 20-year-old Itauma, the WBO Inter-Continental champion raised in Kent, the fight represents a trial by fire. 'I've prepared for this fight as much as I did for my other fights.' Itauma, trained by Ben Davidson, said that Whyte has a lot of experience boxing, especially against big names in the game. The prodigy confronted the experience gap head-on: 'I was reading something where it's like I've only ever boxed 25 rounds, and Dillian had boxed 258. There's a big advantage to him. So, yeah, that's something I'll have to probably overcome.' Whyte, the 37-year-old Jamaican-born Londoner, countered with tactical pragmatism: 'One thing, it is good that he does not have much experience, but also on the other hand, it is bad because ... he is charging forward and wrecking everything.' Whyte told Arab News that Itauma has a lot of 'self-belief and is dangerous.' Under trainer Buddy McGirt, his preparation included sparring younger stand-ins to mirror Itauma's hunger. 'I kind of prepared for that, you know. I brought my young friend Victor back in the camp. He is a big guy, strong guy, and very dangerous and very ambitious, you know, so I can replicate that.' The heavyweight headliner anchors Riyadh Season's Esports World Cup Fight Week alongside matchups featuring Nick Ball vs. Sam Goodman and Anthony Cacace vs. Ray Ford. For Itauma, competing in Saudi Arabia for the first time since his 2023 debut, this marks his greatest challenge. 'I'm not going to say that I think I'm going to lose,' he vowed, 'but hopefully put on a good performance, make a good fight.' His message to local fans? A warm 'Salam alaikum, Saudi Arabia!' Whyte, making his debut in the Kingdom, framed the duel as a temporal and crucial crossroads in heavyweight boxing: 'They are saying the present generation vs. the previous generation vs. the future generation ... Moses is competing with this generation as well.' When asked about the outcome, he said: 'The black person is going to win.' Beneath the bravado, Whyte revealed the fight's deeper significance: 'It's a very dangerous fight ... but it's what I need.' His voice carried the weight of 14 years traversing boxing's trenches. 'We take this fight because we believe in ourselves. My coach believes in me.' Itauma, who turned pro at 18 after claiming Youth World Championship gold, now faces a legacy-defining moment. As Riyadh's global spotlight intensifies, their collision — ambition vs. endurance — promises to etch more than a winner into boxing lore.
The Independent
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Dillian Whyte on fighting Moses Itauma: ‘Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die'
Wind up Dillian Whyte, and watch him go. 'In 1988, a hurricane blew the roof off my mum's house while she was giving birth to me,' he tells one publication on this Zoom call. 'I was eating food from trash cans,' he tells The Independent. And so on. 'I've got about 15 dogs altogether and they just had some puppies, so 16... 17... 18... 19... 20... 21... I've got 22 dogs now.' 'Sometimes I'm borderline obese.' Whyte, unintentionally, is full of quips. One, however, stands out as the most apt ahead of his upcoming fight with Moses Itauma, the most highly-touted heavyweight prospect in years. 'As a kid, my dad used to say random stuff and it didn't make sense to me, but now as I get older...' Whyte starts. 'He used to say: 'Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die.' Long story short, I believe in myself.' You can take this as a metaphor, if you wish, for Whyte's final push towards an elusive world title, with 20-year-old Itauma standing stubbornly in his way in Riyadh. Despite Whyte's vast experience, and Itauma's lack thereof, the 37-year-old is the betting underdog for the bout on 16 August. Whyte genuinely does not seem to care. 'You guys are the experts, the professionals,' he says repeatedly, tongue pressed firmly against the inside of his cheek. 'Today, he's the next Mike Tyson, he's amazing, they're talking about him fighting [Oleksandr] Usyk. If I go in there and blow Moses out in one round, what are people gonna say? He's not good anymore? That's what the media will say. 'Moses Itauma was overhyped.' No, that doesn't mean that; it just means he fought a good fighter and got caught. He hasn't been tested, hasn't been hurt, everything's going great in his career. He's got that blissful ignorance. But [my] experience doesn't really matter unless I make it matter.' When Whyte discusses experience, you get the feeling he's not just talking about in-ring nous. In his own words from July: 'I'm a born sufferer, and I've been a lifetime sufferer.' 'Like I said, I was born in a hurricane,' he tells The Independent. 'My dad's from mixed heritage, Irish and Jamaican; back then, those were probably two of the worst races to be, volatile. My dad only knew one way of raising kids: the hard way. 'You ain't dead, so why are you complaining?' My mum left when I was a kid, went to England to build a better life for us. 'Sometimes I was left with no one to take care of me. I was out on the street, surviving – stealing and robbing to get by. Not robbing people, just robbing food, eating food from trash cans. Working as a kid, I remember selling the glass Fanta bottles. I've just been suffering. My whole life has kind of been like that. 'I never thought I'd be a heavyweight boxer, a heavyweight champion. I got in trouble, started doing a little bit of training to stay out of trouble. It fell in my lap, it saved my life. Then things [were] getting good, getting bad, getting good, getting bad. I was like: 'F*** me. Damn, man. I just want a f*****g break. I'm trying to do things the right way.' 'I just feel like I've been swimming against the wave forever. Some people have it a lot easier, but there's people that have it 10 times worse than me. I was meant to be dead or in prison when I was in my 20s, but I overcame that, raised a family myself, I'm teaching my kids stuff. There's more negatives in my whole life journey than positives, but I just try to focus on the positives.' At one point, Whyte is wound up the wrong way, when talk veers towards his failed drug test before a cancelled rematch with Anthony Joshua in 2023. Whyte was cleared, just as he was after a failed test in 2019, although he did serve a drug-related ban earlier in his career. 'Can we move on? It's a bit of a dumb question, but thank you for your time...' he tells one reporter. 'This guy's kind of p***ed me off, I'm a little bit irritated.' Clearly, it is a topic Whyte wants to avoid, and talk soon turns to Derek Chisora 'avoiding' a fight against Itauma. Whyte draws parallels between himself and the British veteran, whom he beat twice, but points to a difference. While he and Chisora, who recently admitted to opting against a bout with Itauma, have taken on many undesirable challenges throughout their careers, only Whyte has stuck by that approach until the end, he claims. He goes as far as to call Chisora, 41, a 'coward'. Then again, Whyte himself does not care to be judged by others. 'You can do everything great, donate to charity, save puppies from rescue centres, help old ladies cross the street and get things from the top shelf at Tesco, and someone's gonna have an opinion on you,' he says, 'because you have a different opinion to them.' Right now, most opinions suggest Whyte faces a hard, hard night on 16 August. He does not care: 'I'm a proper dog expert, so whether I'm an underdog, top dog, bottom dog, front dog, side dog... as long as there's a dog involved, I'm all in.' Whyte vs Itauma will air live exclusively on DAZN pay-per-view, at a cost of £19.99, on 16 August. A subscription to DAZN is available here.
The Independent
6 hours ago
- Sport
- The Independent
Dillian Whyte still harbours world title hopes ahead of Moses Itauma clash
Dillian Whyte knows he is about to step into the ring with the 'next Mike Tyson' but still believes he can end his boxing story with a world title. After two years in the wilderness, British heavyweight Whyte, 37, was thrown a lifeline earlier in 2025 when he was matched with the division's hottest prospect in Moses Itauma (12-0, 10KOs) on Saturday night in Riyadh. It is the latest hurdle in a life of ups and downs for Whyte, who was born in Jamaica and forced to 'eat from trash cans' before he was brought up in Brixton. Trouble was never far away but kick-boxing and then boxing helped him onto the straight and narrow. A career in professional sport has thrown up almighty challenges with Whyte forced to clear his name from drug accusations three times – the latest in 2023 after a rematch with Anthony Joshua collapsed due to a positive drugs test, which was later found to be as a result of a contaminated supplement. Nevertheless, it pushed Whyte (31-3, 21KOs) even further away from a much-craved second world title bout after his 2022 loss to Tyson Fury until being given a shot at redemption this weekend. 'I never thought I would be a heavyweight boxer or a heavyweight champion doing good. Obviously I got in trouble, started to do a little bit of training to stay out of trouble and then kick-boxing fell on my lap and saved my life,' Whyte reflected. 'I was meant to be dead or in prison by my twenties but to overcome this, raise a family myself, it shows that anything is possible if you believe. 'I would love to win a world title. If I can win a world title then I've had an amazing career. 'I had a version of it, but if I can win a full world title, then people that come from my background, where I have come, the way I got into boxing, for me that's an amazing story to inspire people.' Former WBC interim heavyweight champion Whyte is a huge outsider versus 20-year-old Itauma, who has earned comparisons to Mike Tyson with his knock-out power. However, Whyte can lean on the experience of sharing the ring with Anthony Joshua, Fury, Derek Chisora and Joseph Parker during a 14-year professional career. 'These last few years have taught me that this is what I do, this is what I love doing and I need to take advantage of it, focus on it and appreciate it. Here today, gone tomorrow,' Whyte added. 'Today Moses is the next Mike Tyson. He is great, amazing and they talk about him fighting (Oleksandr) Usyk. I go in there, he does his thing, I catch him and blow him up. Then what? People say he's not good any more? 'My mindset is no-one wants to fight Moses, he is a great fighter, young, sharp and full of beans. You have to believe in yourself and take risks. 'That is what my life is all about. Showing people, my family and my kids, and people in general, you have to take risks to get to places. 'I ain't got nothing to lose. What have I got to lose? I'm a nobody. I'm being compared to a journeyman in the 90s and 80s, he is being compared to Mike Tyson.'
The Sun
9 hours ago
- Sport
- The Sun
Dillian Whyte's rise from eating out of rubbish bins and selling bottles of Fanta to boxing star fighting Moses Itauma
DILLIAN WHYTE has no fear of being at the centre of the Moses Itauma storm - having been born during the middle of a hurricane. Whyte - who ate out of rubbish bins and sold Fanta on the street as a youngster in Jamaica - faces the super-hot prospect on Saturday in sweltering Saudi Arabia. 9 9 9 9 He comes into it as the outsider hoping his experience will trump the speed, power and confidence of 20-year-old Itauma. But for Whyte - who owns 22 DOGS - fighting to save his career is nothing new having been a survivor from the moment he was born. The bookies' underdog said: "I've always been a fighter. I was born in the middle of a hurricane in 1988, a hurricane blew the roof of my mum's house while she was giving birth to me. "I just know to persist. I'm extremely stubborn. All I've done in my life is fight and struggle, fight and struggle, fight and struggle, fight and struggle, fight and struggle. So it's what I know what to do. "Everything else I've had to learn. I've had to learn to be a better human being. I've had to learn to be a person of faith, I've had to learn to be more loving, more caring. "I've had to learn to do other things but fighting and being amongst animals is the two things that I know to do best." Whyte was born in Port Antonio, located on Jamaica's northeast coast and struggled growing up - almost dying of starvation. Whyte did what he could to get by. 9 The heavyweight said: "I was left with cousins and aunties and sometimes I never had no guardians and no one to take care of me. "So I was out in the street surviving, stealing and robbing to get by. Stealing not, robbing people's money. Just robbing food and stuff to get by, eating from trash cans, doing stuff like that, working as a kid. "I remember selling Fanta bottles, the glass bottles, to make money selling fruits, farming. I been suffering my whole life." Whyte reunited with his mother - who later got a job in the NHS - when he was 12. But he was quickly introduced into a life of crime on the streets of London, joining a gang which got him both stabbed and SHOT. It was only when Whyte - who had his first child aged just 13 YEARS OLD - found kickboxing did he truly find refuge having his first fight at 20. Despite turning professional, he switched to boxing to chase more lucrative paydays - since earning millions and challenging for a world title. The unlikely success story said: "I never thought I was gonna be a heavyweight boxer, a heavyweight champion or be doing good. "I got in trouble, started doing a little bit of training to stay out of trouble and then doing kickboxing and boxing fell on my lap and then saved my life." Whyte has delivered some of Britain's best heavyweight nights over the last decade, including classics with Anthony Joshua, Derek Chisora and Joseph Parker. I remember selling Fanta bottles, the glass bottles, to make money selling fruits, farming. I been suffering my whole life. Dillian Whyte But he lost in his long-awaited WBC world title shot in 2022 after being knocked out in round six by Tyson Fury. Whyte's career has also been clouded with controversy outside of the ring. In 2012, he was banned for TWO YEARS after testing positive for methylhexaneamine (MHA) - known to to increase energy. The stimulant was contained in a pre-workout called Jack3D - which Whyte says he took without knowing it was banned. In July 2019, Whyte then tested positive for an unknown banned substance before his victory over Oscar Rivas - with the bout allowed to go ahead. But five months later the case was dropped by United Kingdom Anti-Doping in another case of "isolated contamination". Whyte's third doping case came in 2023 when his big-money rematch with Joshua - following defeat in 2015 - was scrapped. Again, the Jamaican-Brit returned an adverse finding and blamed it on contamination before he continued his career overseas. Moses Itauma vs Dillian Whyte - all the info One of the biggest fights of the year has arrived The highly-touted Moses Itauma faces the biggest test of his fledgling career as he steps into the ring with Dillian Whyte on Saturday night. Itauma, 20, has great expectations on his shoulders - he has been compared to Mike Tyson and is expected by many to dominate boxing's heavyweight division over the next decade. But the Slovakian-born star - who sits at 12-0 (10KOs) is yet to face a test anywhere close to what Whyte can offer. The Body Snatcher is now 37 and has not looked great in his last couple of fights, but the former world title challenger knows an upset win would catapult him right back to the top table. Watch Itauma vs Whyte LIVE on DAZN Here's everything you need to know ahead of the fight... INFO Start time, TV channel and live stream - all the info LATEST NEWS Whyte's trainer reveals he's NEVER watched Itauma fight 'It's a bit of a dumb question' Whyte had two underwhelming comeback wins but still the contaminated supplement or banned substance has never been revealed. Probed on his most recent doping case, Whyte, 37, snapped: "Can we move on now? "It's a bit of a dumb question anyway but yeah, thank you for your time. Someone else please." His next fight marks a crossroads with Whyte rolling the dice for what could be the final time - while Itauma has only just come to the table. Itauma debuted at 18 as Britain's answer to a prime Mike Tyson - knocking out ten of his 12 opponents - all within the first two rounds. But Whyte said: "I believe in myself and listen, I'm getting written off but this is not new. "Even when I was beating these guys as number one contender I was still getting written off. "My whole life - not just in boxing - my whole life I've been written off." Whyte, who previously held the WBC's interim title before getting his shot at the gold, is still refusing to give up on his pursuit of becoming champ. He said: "I'd love to win the world title. I had a version of it but if I can win the full world title then I've had an amazing career. "People that come from my background and where I've come from and the way I got into boxing and stuff like that for me - that's an amazing story to inspire people." 9 9 9 9
