Moses Itauma vs Jermaine Franklin LIVE: Start time, undercard, fight updates and results tonight – UK Times

Queensberry Promotions chief Frank Warren first became aware of Itauma when the boxer was a teenager.

Itauma would arrive at gyms in his school uniform before sparring and – at least once – he got the better of one of Warren’s heavyweights.

“I thought, ‘Bloody hell,’” Warren recalls. “I couldn’t make out who it was who had the head guard on, and when they told me who it was, I nearly fell through the floor.

“I won’t say who, because I don’t want to embarrass him, but that’s when we started sponsoring Moses.”

From our roundtable interview with Itauma:

Itauma has his head screwed on in a way that is impressive for his age, at the risk of sounding condescending. “Of course,” he said, before adding with a smirk: “Maybe I’m just boring.”

This follows his confession that, after GQ’s Men Of The Year after-party last winter, he might’ve developed an aversion to such glitzy gatherings. And that might be for the best.

“I feel like I lost myself to find myself again,” he tells publications including The Independent. “At these parties… I was like: ‘I’m not really doing my purpose. I need to get back in the gym’.

“A lot of my friends could’ve been something, but they got caught up in the party life. My amateur trainers, all of them said I wasn’t the talented-est, I didn’t hit the hardest, but I kind of had the consistency to stay on, whereas everyone else went to parties.”

Here are a few thoughts from Indy Sport columnist Steve Bunce:

“So far, Itauma has done everything right in a ring apprenticeship that launched with bold claims that he would win a world heavyweight title at a younger age than Mike Tyson.

“Luckily, that storyline vanished, and Itauma could get on with learning, winning, and growing as an adult and a boxer.

“Itauma has often talked about his sacrifices to get where he is – he lost his teenage years to the gym and his chosen profession.

“The Franklin fight is the first real test, a bout where Moses might have to go into the heavyweight unknown.”

Itauma is a short-priced favourite on all the major betting sites to win tonight’s bout, with Franklin a massive underdog, according to the bookies.

Odds via Betway as of Monday 23 March

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Nathan Heaney vs Gerome Warburton (middleweight)

Ezra Taylor vs Willy Hutchinson (light-heavyweight)

Shakiel Thompson vs Brad Pauls (middleweight)

Liam Davies vs Francesco Grandelli (featherweight)

Already tonight, Michael Gomez Jr has stopped Jordan Flynn, and Nelson Birchall has TKOed Ryan Griffiths.

And just now(!), Josh Holmes finished Alex Murphy after overcoming some early adversity.

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Itauma vs Franklin takes place at the Co-op Live arena in Manchester tonight.

The early action began at 5pm GMT (10am PT / 12pm CT / 1pm ET), with main-event ring walks expected at 11pm GMT (4pm PT / 6pm CT / 7pm ET).

We’ll begin our live updates from the undercard soon!

Franklin has his own history with Whyte, having lost a controversial decision to the veteran in 2022, and his only other defeat was a points loss to Anthony Joshua the following year. As such, the 32-year-old American is seen as a sensible test for Itauma, whose speed and movement belie his size – and are brutal when combined with his natural power.

Follow live updates and results from Itauma vs Franklin and the undercard, right here.