Saturday night in Manchester, England is the return of unbeaten, British heavyweight Moses Itauma in a main event against American contender Jermaine Franklin.
On Saturday night, British phenom heavyweight Moses Itauma (13-0, 11 KOs) is set to face American veteran Jermaine Franklin (24-2, 15 KOs) in a scheduled 10-round main event heavyweight showdown.
The fight will headline a Queensberry Promotions event at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England, with fans worldwide able to watch live on DAZN.
The Itauma return, originally planned for earlier this year, was postponed after Itauma suffered a biceps injury late last year, pushing the January date back to March 28th.
The 21 year old Itauma has tremendous "buzz" around him, which heightened last August when he destroyed former world title challenger Dillian Whyte in less than a round in a Saudi Arabia PPV.
Ahead of Saturday’s clash, both fighters addressed the media at the final press conference. Here’s what Itauma had to say about fighting Franklin
“To be honest I’ve been turning the questions down when they keep asking me about other heavyweights because I have a serious opponent in Jermaine Franklin,” Itauma said. “We’ve asked for this fight (for) a year and a half or something like that. Now we got it.
I feel like this is like the kind of final piece to the puzzle. There’s questions that my team want to know about me. There’s questions that I want to know about myself and I’m sure that there’s a lot of questions that the fans want to know about me as well…”
Franklin's two losses are by decision to Whyte and former unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in 2022-23. And, he's known for being able to take a huge punch.
Itauma continued,
“The past and the future doesn’t exist. It’s only the present. As of right now in the present it looks like I’m doing my thing. When comparisons are being made, it puts a lot of pressure on my shoulder, but I guess it’s necessary.
I’m pretty sure when Messi and Ronaldo (soccer stars) were going through their little stages in their career they felt the same way. I have to kind of push it to one side and do my thing.”
As for the Michigan native Franklin, he knows that most believe he's only in Manchester to get wiped out sooner or later. He said Thursday,
“I feel disrespected by (what has been said about him). “But, it’s part of the game. I’m used to the politics. I’m used to the tricks everybody does. I’m just ready to fight.
“People gonna feel how they feel. People can have their own opinions or whatever, but I know what I come to do. I know what I can do. I’m not too much worried about how people feel or anything.”
Itauma's promoter Frank Warren also has a strong stable of British heavyweights, including newly elevated WBO world champ Fabio Wardley. Wardley will defend his version of the heavyweight crown against fellow countryman Daniel Dubois in May.
One complication with a possible Wardley-Itauma fight is that they are both trained by famous championship trainer Ben Davison. So, they aren't likely to fight each other any time soon, if ever.
If Itauma continues to win, he could become a possible opponent for unified, WBC/WBA/IBF champ, Oleksandr Usyk both that's not likely to happen until late this year at the earliest.
The 39 year old future hall of famer Usyk is slated to meet kickboxer Rico Verhoeven in an Egypt optional title defense in May.