Moses Itauma stops durable Jermain Franklin to put heavyweight division on notice

Moses Itauma stops Jermain Franklin in five to send warning to the world

Boxing's brightest heavyweight prospect delivered his most complete performance to date on March 28 at the Co-op Live in Manchester, live on DAZN.

Chatham's Moses Itauma (14-0, 12 KOs) cemented his status as the most feared heavyweight prospect on the planet after stopping the durable Jermaine Franklin (24-3, 15 KOs) in the fifth round after controlling the fight from the opening bell with far faster hands and cleaner power shots.

The finish came from a short sequence, the 21-year-old Brit stepping back from Franklin when covering up and dipping his head down to make room for a left uppercut that snapped the American's head back and stunned him enough to send him on his way down, but Moses managed to land another right hand to finish him off. Referee Steve Gray was very quick to jump in and wave off the fight. The official tried to stop the last right hand from landing, but was a split-second too late.

The victory is the most significant of Itauma’s young career so far. 32-year-old was already well known on these shores for his brace of bouts with Dillian Whyte and Anthony Joshua taking both Brits the distance over 12 rounds. The Michigan man scored a draw with Whyte on one card in 2022, then took three rounds from AJ in 2023.

The "989 Assassin" had won all three fights since those defeats, decisioning two unbeaten heavyweights. The heavyweight was brought over to Britain solely to give Itauma the rounds he needed, after stopping his last nine opponents in rounds one and two.

Itauma has now stopped 12 of his 14 professional opponents to boast a 85% KO ratio and find himself ranked number one by both the WBO and WBA in the heavyweight division.

The one-sided, confident performance silenced those who had questioned whether Itauma could handle pressure rounds. Franklin brought movement, durability, and ring craft, yet was systematically broken down in short time by a fantastic fighter who is still only beginning to fulfil his limitless potential.

Speaking ahead of the contest, Itauma had described the Franklin fight as “the final piece of the puzzle” on his journey to a world title.

Promoter Frank Warren and the Queensberry team will no doubt be moving quickly to secure a world title shot for their man. With Oleksandr Usyk’s unified titles fragmenting under mandatory obligations, the landscape has rarely looked more favourable for a challenger of Itauma’s calibre to make his move.

Remarkably, Franklin wanted to continue fighting saying that he believed he could have got back up again.

Undercard

On the undercard, former British champion Brad Pauls upset unbeaten Shakiel Thompson in the ninth round to win the vacant IBF International middleweight title.

Another former British middleweight champion, Nathan Heaney was upset by Gerome Warburton, widely outpointed over 10 rounds by the Welshman.

Undefeated lightweight Josh Holmes continued his winning run with a quick first-round stoppage of Salford's Alex Murphy.

Michael Gomes Jr stopped Jordan Flynn in three, Nelson Birchall claimed the vacant English featherweight crown with a ninth-round TKO over Ryan Griffiths; John Joe Carrigan made it two KOs in fights; and Billy Deniz and Aadam Hamed both won their bouts on points.