RIYADH – August 13, 2025 – Ahead of ESports World Cup Fight Week: Moses Itauma vs. Dillian Whyte, the participants in the heavyweight main event along with other fighters on the card made their grand arrivals yesterday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia ahead of fight night in ANB Arena. The event will take place on Saturday, August 16, live worldwide exclusively on DAZN PPV (12:45 p.m. ET) and is brought to you in association with Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions.
Tuesday’s grand arrivals were headlined by Itauma (12-0, 10 KOs), ranked No. 1 by the WBO and The Ring’s 2024 Prospect of the year, and Whyte (31-3, 21 KOs), the former two-time interim WBC titleholder, ahead of their 12-round heavyweight bout.
Also featured during the grand arrivals were WBA Featherweight ChampionNick Ball (22-0-1, 13 KOs) and the undefeated Sam Goodman (20-0, 8 KOs) along with The Ring Ambassador and Japanese junior lightweight prospect Hayato Tsutsumi (7-0, 4 KOs), and former Olympian Qais Ashfaq (13-3-1, 5 KOs). Heavyweights Filip Hrgovic (18-1, 14 KOs), the 2016 Olympic Bronze Medalist, former British Champion David Adeleye(14-1, 13 KOs), former WBA featherweight strap holder Raymond Ford (17-1-1, 8 KOs), former WBC super featherweight challenger Abraham Nova(24-3-1, 17 KOs) as well as hometown lightweight “Mighty” Mohammed Alakel (4-0, 0 KO) and India’s Yumnam Santosh Singh (3-6, 1 KO) all appeared before the assembled fans and media.
Here is what the fighters had to say during their grand arrivals:
Moses Itauma
What challenges are you facing going against Dillian Whyte?
“Dillian has boxed over 230 rounds more than I have. That brings with it a lot of experience. He said it himself, I’m a young guy but I’ve had loads of experience. What he meant by loads of experience is that even though I haven’t done it under the bright lights because I haven’t actually been able to because guys haven’t been able to surpass the sixth round, I have experienced it in sparring. As much as you want to find out about me, I’m going into this fight to find out about myself. I’ve proved time after time in my sparring sessions what I’m capable of, so that’s why I’ve got the confidence. But I don’t know what I’m capable of under the bright lights.”
Is it easy or hard to shut out all the external noise around you?
“I don’t know how to answer that question because I’ve never listened to those opinions anyway. Because you lot aren’t going to throw the punches for me. You don’t have to wake up having to play the Moses Itauma role everyday. Your opinion of me can change every single day, but that doesn’t mean my opinion of myself should change every single day…So when I go into the ring and you’re touting me to be the next talent, it’s good to hear, but it doesn’t do me any favors. So I just kind of ignore it and let you do your job and my job is to do the boxing.”
How does it feel stepping into the main event role?
“I know with becoming the main event, there is the added bit of people wanting to interview me and what not. And I’m just like, I get paid well to do this so I need to keep my end of the bargain.”
Dillian Whyte
How happy are you to be back in a big fight?
“It’s good to be back. Obviously I’m up against it. It’s a good place to be. I’ve got nothing to lose, it’s good to be in this position.”
Do you have something to prove to yourself in this contest?
“No, I don’t have anything to prove to myself… Sometimes I think to myself, I’m 37 years old, I’m here, I’ve got kids, I have a wife, a family. I’m exciting people, I’m doing things. I’m one of the best fighters in the world. Sometimes it’s unbelievable.”
What’s left for you to achieve?
“I’d love to get a chance to avenge my three defeats and I’d love the chance to fight for the world title again. I don’t think I did myself justice last time. Sometimes you can have a good camp and last minute things happen and sometimes mentally you’re there but you’re not really there and I think that’s what happened to me in the Fury fight but it is what it is.”
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