Moses Itauma has revealed the thought of Saturday night’s acid test against Dillian Whyte has been keeping him up at night.

The 20-year-old Itauma will start as a big favourite against Whyte in their Esports World Cup main event at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He has even admitted this week that he expects to knock out the 37-year-old former world title challenger in their DAZN Pay-Per-View main event.

It has been suggested that Whyte’s inactivity over the past couple of years might impede his chances of derailing Itauma, who is 12-0 (10 KOs) after 32 months as a professional. But the young contender expects the best possible version of “The Body Snatcher,” the thought of whom has been giving him sleepless nights.

“Me against Dillian Whyte was keeping me up at night,” Itauma said. “Scenarios were just playing in my head and I feel like that might be a problem for a lot of people. I’ve always been a person of action. I go and do it. The reason people get nervous or anxious for their fight is because they’re too focused on the outcome. But I’m not fussed about the outcome, I’m focused on boxing to my gameplan.

“When I box to the gameplan I know that I can beat Dillan Whyte, so in turn it’s job done, I’ve completed the equation. Whereas if I don’t do it, I’ve failed. I can’t say I’d be happy if I beat Dillian, but I know I’ll be disappointed if I don’t. It’s funny because with boxing your goal is to knock the other man unconscious and if you don’t do it it’s like you’ve failed the task. If I go and I knock Dillian Whyte out it’s like, cool, I was always meant to do this. Job done. But if I don’t do it, yes, I’ll be disappointed.”

Whyte, 17 years Itauma’s senior, is now 14 years deep into a rollercoaster professional career in which he has gleaned the British heavyweight title and a WBC interim belt. Whyte (31-3, 21 KOs) has also suffered crushing knockout defeats to Anthony Joshua, Alexander Povetkin and Tyson Fury during his career.

When asked which version of Whyte he has found himself visualising, Itauma said, “I picture a scary, mean-looking guy who is ready to take my head off because I feel like that is what he is trying to do.

“I’m ranked No.1 with the WBO, so a win against me will probably put him in contention for a rematch with [interim champ] Joseph Parker. It will put him in a good position. I don’t know what Dillian Whyte is going to come, but I’m imagining the best one.”