Unstoppable heavyweight prospect Moses Itauma shines with brutal finish and remains unbeaten.
Moses Itauma inflicted his first early defeat on Jermaine Franklin Jr. at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester under the banner of Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions. Itauma (14-0, 12 KOs) delivered a highlight-reel fifth-round knockout of Franklin Jr. (24-3, 15 KOs) to inflict the American’s third consecutive defeat on English soil. Itauma even managed to do what other British heavyweights such as Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte had previously failed to do.
Franklin Jr. went down for the first time in the third round after a powerful left jab to the back of the head. Although the American got back to his feet and managed to survive the round break, the difference in class between the two fighters was clearly visible. At the start of the fifth round, Itauma opened with a cracking overhand right, followed by a straight left. Shortly after, he unleashed a massive left uppercut that sent Franklin Jr. flat on his face. Referee Steve Gray stopped the fight immediately at 1:33 of the round.
“I tried to knock him out in the first and second round to make some people some money,” Itauma said in the ring after the fight. “Then I thought, maybe not today. I went back to basics and worked to the body. Then the knockout just came. It’s not the punch you load up on, it’s the punches you don’t see coming.”
With this further impressive performance, Itauma’s share price in the heavyweight division continues to rise rapidly. At just 21 years of age, he is already being touted as a future king of the division.