On January 24, at the Co-op Live Arena, Manchester, Moses Itauma vs Jermaine Franklin headlines a Queensberry Promotions card, live on DAZN.
Itauma has blown away most opponents with ease, with Franklin selected to provide him with a ‘real test.’ The American has gone the distance with Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte, with some feeling Franklin won the fight. Ahead of Itauma-Franklin, George Groves has spoken to BetIdeas about January 24 and how Franklin could be a good opponent for the Brit.
Moses Itauma vs Jermaine Franklin – George Groves breaks it down
Looking at Moses Itauma vs Jermaine Franklin (24-2, 15 KOs), Groves discussed Itauma (13-0, 11 KOs) going some rounds, and the hope he will be tested by the American:
“It might be the biggest test of Franklin’s career so far. I would like to see Moses have to go some rounds and I think they chose Franklin for that reason, they think he’s tough. He took Joshua rounds, he took Dillian Whyte rounds and they’re hoping he’s going to take Itauma rounds, I don’t think he’d be able to present any real challenges, Itauma is just too sharp.
“But Franklin’s durable and they’ll hope to take him into deeper waters and then see what Itauma’s condition is like. But, I think it is a good matchup if you are trying to build Moses Itauma, it makes sense.
“There was a period where it could have possibly been in line for a mandatory, and it was on. It was like, if you take those fights, then you are in the mix, you are one fight away from having to fight someone like Usyk and do you really need to fight Usyk now?
“Records don’t mean everything, they don’t pay the bills and Fabio Wardley right now hasn’t boxed in a world title fight, but he’s world champion, he could have had that fight. I was out in Dubai and I watched Gassiev beat Pulev for a WBA world title. So there are world titles knocking about. The bigger picture certainly for Moses Itauma, I think this Franklin fight is a really good one for him,” said Groves.
Moses Itauma vs Jermaine Franklin full fight card
- Moses Itauma vs Jermain Franklin, 10 rounds, heavyweights
- Willy Hutchinson vs Ezra Taylor, 10 rounds, light heavyweights
- Zak Miller vs Liam Davies, 10 rounds, featherweights
- Shakiel Thompson vs Brad Pauls, 10 rounds, middleweights
- Nathan Heaney vs Gerome Warburton, 10 rounds, middleweights
- Aqib Fiaz vs Jordan Flynn, 10 rounds, lightweights
- Alex Murphy vs Josh Holmes, 10 rounds, lightweights
- Nelson Birchall vs Ryan Griffiths, 8 rounds, super featherweights
- Aadam Hamed vs Kasey Bradnum, 4 rounds, super lightweights
- John Joe Carrigan vs Danny Costello, 4 rounds, super welterweights
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