LONDON, England — With the heavyweight division in sharp focus following Oleksandr Usyk’s devastating victory over Daniel Dubois, it is now time for the putative heir apparent to take centre stage.

It is now just 26 days until Moses Itauma faces the biggest test of his career so far when he takes on Dillian Whyte at ANB Arena, Riyadh on Aug. 16 live on DAZN.

And it is a fight which will have huge ramifications for the division as a whole, with many tipping Itauma to eventually take over from Usyk as the No.1 heavyweight on the planet.

But, one year Usyk’s junior at 37, Whyte has told anyone who will listen that he is not done yet despite only managing two low-key wins since 2022. The Jamaica-born "Bodysnatcher" lost his only world title shot via sixth-round stoppage to Tyson Fury and is adamant he still has the minerals to secure himself another crack at the belts.

A defeat to Itauma, particularly if it happens in explosive fashion, would end any hopes of Whyte challenging at the top level ever again. And, given how Itauma has blitzed 10 of his 12 opponents to date, many are predicting that Whyte will go the same way.

Immediately after Usyk's masterclass at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night, Turki Alalshikh, the head of Riyadh Season chairman of the General Entertainment Authority of Saudi Arabia, declared that Usyk-Itauma is the fight to make at heavyweight.

And given that none of the heavyweights from Usyk’s own generation has been able to topple him, it might be time for the man primed to dominate the next one to have a go. But not before he gets past Whyte.

Tyson Fury, Joseph Parker, Derek Chisora and Anthony Joshua were all mentioned by Usyk when he was asked who could be next for him. Considering he has already beaten three of those names — and two of them twice — it seems entirely likely that he will complete his career without ever losing.

But, at 20 and with only 12 professional fights to his name, Itauma could crank up the calls for him to face Usyk for the undisputed title by despatching Whyte. In contrast, should Whyte somehow find a way to stop the Itauma express train, he will fire himself into a big fight of his own, most likely an eliminator of sorts which would keep his dream alive.

So the stakes for both men are incredibly high for very different reasons in a division stacked with contenders positioning themselves for an assault on the king.

Two more of those men are Filip Hrgovic and David Adeleye, who meet in the chief support on Aug. 16 in another winner-stays-on heavyweight battle. There was a time when many boxing fans predicted that Hrgovic would be the next face of the division, but Dubois blew a hole in those plans by stopping him in eight rounds at Kingdom Arena last year.

He got back on the horse by outpointing Joe Joyce in Manchester in April and he will face another heavyweight from England’s capital in the form of 28-year-old "Big D." Like Hrgovic, the Brit is rebuilding following the first defeat of his career, when Fabio Wardley knocked him out in the seventh round of their 2023 British title clash.

He has won twice domestically since then but will be now stepping up to world level for the first time against Hrgovic. Both men are promoted by Queensberry and the winner will continue his march towards the really big players of the division while the loser will return to the back of the queue.

At featherweight, Nick Ball has made no secret of his desire to welcome undisputed super bantamweight king Naoya Inoue to the 126lb ranks. But those plans will fall apart should he fail to get past Sam Goodman.

The unbeaten Australian himself had to withdraw from two fights with Inoue due to a cut and told The Ring earlier this year that the financial ramifications of that particular wound have hit him hard. He knows a win over Ball, which would secure the WBA featherweight title, could well land him a third opportunity to face Inoue but a first career defeat would almost certainly end those hopes.

It is a similar situation for Ball, too. Much like with Usyk at heavyweight, pretty much all roads between 122 and 126lbs lead to Inoue. The Japanese icon is scheduled to fight Murodjon Akhmadaliev in one of the best fights that can be made in boxing on Sept. 14. Should Ball beat Goodman, he will almost certainly reignite his pursuit of Inoue in the immediate post-fight interview.

But with three other featherweight world title carriers right now, there are also big unification opportunities for whoever wins in Riyadh.

At junior lightweight, one of Ball’s former victims, Ray Ford, can take another step closer to a shot at the 130lb title. The Ring’s No. 9 contender in the division, Ford had been scheduled to face Anto Cacace before an injury forced him to pull out. Now Ford will take on Abraham Nova (24-3-1, 17 KOs) over 12 rounds.

In another busy division with four different champions, defeat would be unthinkable for Ford as he plots a path towards a world title in a second weight class.