Moses Itauma has claimed that Buddy McGirt is only comfortable not watching any video footage of him in action because he will not be the one in the ring taking punches.

Itauma takes on Dillian Whyte in Riyadh on Saturday night and his training team of Ben Davison, Lee Wylie and Barry Smith have worked meticulously on a gameplan for the young heavyweight.

But McGirt, who has trained Whyte since 2022, recently said that he has never watched any video footage of southpaw prodigy Itauma (12-0, 10 KOs) and an overwhelming favourite to win the fight.

Some have suggested that the Hall of Fame fighter-turned-trainer is bluffing and playing mind games but, during an interview with The Ring’s Louis Hart on Monday, Itauma said that he is probably telling the truth.

The 20-year-old also took aim at McGirt, a two-weight world champion, suggesting that he might have done more due diligence if it was him in line to fight Itauma rather than somebody else.

He said: “I do believe him when he says he hasn’t watched any tape of me.

“When Buddy McGirt was boxing, did he study fighters? I can imagine he probably did. So why is it now that you’re coaching someone that you won’t study their opponents?

“He’s not the one in the ring taking punches so he’s going to be OK with not studying the fighters because there’s no urgency from his side. He’s not taking the damage.

“If it helps him it helps him. We are going to see on fight night if that’s the case.”

Davison and his team are well known for studying the opponents of all their fighters and their attention to detail was one of the reasons that convinced Itauma for linking up with the Harlow gym last year.

Itauma said he had started to hate boxing before making the switch and has found a new lease of life since the move to Davison.

Saturday night is expected to be the toughest test of his career given Whyte’s credentials as a former world title challenger. But Itauma, widely considered a world heavyweight champion in waiting, believes sometimes trainers can be braver than their fighters.

He added: “The thing is with trainers nowadays is that a lot of them are more confident than the fighters.

“I remember I was sparring this one guy. I sparred him on a Wednesday and I knocked him out. They obviously put another sparring partner in but the coach said, 'He will go back in’ after I had just knocked him out.

“Anyway, we finished sparring and the coach said, 'We will come back on Friday.' I can see that the coach wants to, but he’s not the one in the ring taking punches.”