Moses Itauma’s ominous run continued on Saturday, as the rising heavyweight star knocked out Jermaine Franklin in Manchester.
Itauma, 21, became the first boxer to knock out Franklin as he stopped the American in the fifth round, improving his record to 14-0 with a 12th finish.
The crowd at the Co-op Live arena had gathered to see if Itauma could pass his latest test, and the British prospect did so with flying colours, dropping Franklin in the third round and stopping him in the fifth.
The first knockdown came courtesy of a short right hand to the top of Franklin’s head, as southpaw Itauma trapped the American in the corner.
Franklin, 32, beat the referee’s count and survived the final 15 seconds of the round, and he even came out of his shell in the fourth frame, dialling up his offence after Itauma’s blistering start.
But the fifth round brought an abrupt end to Franklin’s defiance, as a rear uppercut froze the American completely, before Itauma followed up with a right hand on his vulnerable opponent.
The referee waved off the fight before the end of the 10 count, to the anger of Franklin’s team, but it seemed a fair call after the underdog was out on his feet.
Itauma’s victory, and the manner of it, will only increase calls for the Kent boxer to fight for a world title in the near future, and his promoter Frank Warren suggested that will happen before the end of the year.
The Queensberry boss hinted at a July return for Itauma, which would surely not be a world-title fight, given champions Oleksandr Usyk and Fabio Wardley are in action in May – Wardley, a teammate of Itauma, against Daniel Dubois; and Usyk against kickboxer Rico Verhoeven at the pyramids of Giza.
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“I wanna say thank you very much for the Manchester crowd, I’ve had a lovely time,” Itauma said. “Man, I’m happy to get the win. The Lord is good!
“I’ve done something that other British heavyweights – that have gone on to do great things – haven’t been able to do,” he continued, referencing the fact that Franklin’s only previous losses were points defeats by Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte.
“It takes two to tango, so I’m appreciative [of Franklin]. I tried to knock him out in the first, second round – tried to make some people some dough – but I just thought: ‘Ah, maybe not today.’ I switched it up, went to the body. It’s not the shots you load up with, it’s the shots you don’t see.”
Itauma signed off, “I’m just a young boy chasing a dream,” as fans await to see when that world-title dream will materialise.
Itauma’s previous result was a KO of Whyte in August, when he required just 119 seconds to beat the British veteran.
