Dillian Whyte has predicted a possible clash between Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma, based purely on the Ukrainian’s performance against Rico Verhoeven.

Usyk was introduced to a surprisingly challenging assignment last Saturday, but ultimately retained his WBC, IBF and WBA world titles against the Dutch kickboxer.

There were times, however, when Verhoeven was making it too close for comfort, with one judge even scoring it 96-94 in his favour, while the other two had it 95-95 after 10 rounds.

In the end, it was a whipping uppercut that sent him to the canvas in round 11, and despite getting back to his feet, the 37-year-old was controversially waved off by referee Mark Lyson at the sound of the bell.

Usyk, meanwhile, was perhaps guilty of overlooking his opponent, whose only previous professional boxing match had come via a second-round finish over an 0-5 heavyweight in 2014.

At the same time, though, the 39-year-old’s post-fight admission – that his daughter had messaged him from a bomb shelter in Ukraine – could also explain why he underperformed.

Whatever the case, heavyweight veteran Whyte has told IFL TV that he believes Itauma would defeat Usyk, given where they are at this stage in their respective careers.

“[Based] on that performance last weekend, yeah, [Itauma would beat Usyk].”

Whyte felt the full force of an Itauma stoppage in August, not even making it through the opening round.

Since then, Itauma has defeated Jermaine Franklin, courtesy of a fifth-round finish in March, and placed himself as the No.1 contender with both the WBO and WBA.