Rising heavyweight prospect Moses Itauma will step up to face Jermaine Franklin on Jan. 24 at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England, Queensberry Promotions announced Monday.
Itauma vs. Franklin will stream on DAZN worldwide.
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Itauma (13-0, 11 KOs) recorded the best win of his career this past August in Saudi Arabia when he stopped former world title challenger Dillian Whyte in the opening round. Franklin (24-2, 15 KOs) also faced Whyte in November 2022, losing a controversial majority decision. Franklin’s efforts in the bout against Whyte landed him a fight with Anthony Joshua afterward, where he again did better than expected, lasting the 12-round distance.
Since then, however, Franklin has struggled to find significant fights and activity, managing just two low-key bouts in the two years that followed. Franklin was given another opportunity when he was matched with Ivan Dychko on the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford undercard this past September, winning a debatable decision in a dull affair.
Itauma, 20, is widely considered to be the top young fighter in boxing. He has gone past the second round on just two occasions, lasting the distance in successive fights in April and July 2023, but has made easy work of all his subsequent opposition. Franklin is considered a durable heavyweight, and the hope is rising star Itauma will get some much-needed ring time against the American.
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Itauma is the No. 1 heavyweight contender with both the WBO and the WBA. He is the mandatory challenger for Kubrat Pulev’s WBA (Regular) heavyweight title and is expected to face the winner of the Pulev vs. Murat Gassiev fight, confirmed for December, at some point next year.
Also announced for the Jan. 24 card is a battle of light heavyweight contenders between Willy Hutchinson (19-2, 14 KOs) and Ezra Taylor (13-0, 9 KOs), while former IBO champion Liam Davies (17-1, 8 KOs) meets Zak Miller (17-1, 3 KOs) in a featherweight contest, and world-ranked middleweight contender Shakiel Thompson (15-0, 11 KOs) returns against Brad Pauls (20-2-1, 11 KOs).