Plenty of praise and plaudits have been tossed toward heavyweight phenom Moses Itauma, and The Ring's 2024 Prospect of the Year looks to demonstrate his potential further when he faces Dillian Whyte on August 16.

Manager Francis Warren believes the 20-year-old Itauma could one day impact British boxing like LeBron James, Tiger Woods and David Beckham have in their respective sports, while Turki Alalshikh would like to see Itauma challenge Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight titles.

Grandiose plans will go up in flames if Itauma doesn’t pass his first big step-up test against the credible former title challenger Whyte when they headline a DAZN PPV card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

"Itauma is the truth, but you have to move him at a pace and get him there," Hall of Fame fighter and former heavyweight champion Roy Jones Jr. told The Ring in an interview.

"Itauma can be thrown into the fire, but you don't want to throw him into the inferno. Usyk is the inferno right now. You can't just throw him into the wolves too early. Look what happened to Jared Anderson when they threw him in too fast."

Anderson has become a poster child of sorts for an ascending fighter biting off more than he can chew after he was battered and blasted out inside five rounds by Martin Bakole last year.

Itauma (12-0, 10 KOs) appears to be cut from a different cloth from Anderson, however, as he is riding an eight-fight knockout streak, finishing each opponent inside two rounds.

The meteoric rise has caught the attention of British boxing icon Lennox Lewis, who has labeled Itauma as the "next coming."

Whyte (31-3, 21 KOs) meanwhile, is certainly no pushover even at 37 and years removed from a significant win. The Body Snatcher's only losses have come against former champions Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, and Alexander Povetkin.

"The fight against Whyte will tell us a lot about Itauma," said Jones. "It's a great test for him, but he definitely has all of the attributes and the things you look for in a young fighter. Itauma could soon be a top-five heavyweight."