British heavyweight sensation Moses Itauma will continue his march towards a world title shot vs American star Jermaine Franklin.
The 20-year-old Itauma is without doubt the most exciting young fighter in the sport right now, blasting his way to a 13-0 pro record with 11 of those wins coming inside two rounds.
Most recently, the phenom from Chatham in Kent produced his most stunning display yet, pulverising former world title challenger Dillian Whyte inside a round in Saudi Arabia in August.
Now the search is on to find an opponent who can give Itauma further rounds and experience – as yet that is proving to be quite a problem. As Itauma keeps destroying them in a matter of seconds.
Franklin is next up to take on what might be the most thankless task in boxing right now. Quite simply Itauma is unstoppable so far – display an intoxicating mix of speed, power and surprising ring IQ for one so young.
Here is all we need to know about their upcoming blockbuster.
When is Itauma vs Franklin
The fight will take place in Manchester’s Co-Op Live Arena in England on Saturday January 24, 2026.
Ring walks for Itauma vs Franklin are expected to take place around 10pm local time. That will be 11pm CET while fans in the US will need to be ready for 5pm Eastern, 4pm Central or 2pm Pacific.
How to watch live
Itauma’s Hall of Fame promoter Frank Warren now has a huge deal with DAZN for his Queensberry Promotions events to air on that network. So that is where Itauma vs Franklin lands.
As yet there is no talk of this one being a pay per view fight, so in theory it will be free to all existing DAZN subscribers.
Latest Odds
Despite the fact Franklin has proved himself to be a very durable foe even at the highest level (more on that to come), the oddsmakers expect another convincing Itauma victory. To be fair, how could they not.
Moses is 1/20 to come out on top with Franklin the 9/1 underdog. The Draw is priced at 25/1.
Official weights
The weigh-in will take place in Manchester on Friday January 23, the day before fight night.
Itauma tipped the scales at 235lbs (16st 11lbs) for his most recent outing – that demolition job on Dillian Whyte.
Franklin meanwhile was 256lbs (18st 4lbs) for his last fight – a decision win over Ivan Dychko on the Canelo vs Crawford undercard in Las Vegas in September.
Moses Itauma record
The 20-year-old Itauma has a perfect 13-0 pro ledger with 11 wins by KO. All of those knockouts came inside two rounds.
Most of Itauma’s fights so far have had highlight-reel finishes. He is just so incredibly good it is frightening.
The absolute obliteration of Whyte – a man who was once the WBC interim champion – was obviously the biggest name on his resume so far.
Jermaine Franklin record
The 32-year-old Franklin, who fights out of Saginaw, Michigan, has a 24-2 pro record with 15 wins inside distance.
If you look at most of those fights, not much jumps out in terms of quality opponents. But his reputation in the UK comes from his two defeats.
Jermaine fought both the aforementioned Whyte and then Anthony Joshua in back-to-back trips to London in 2022 and 2023. And on both occasions he heard the final bell after showing his durability and ability to hang against elite opposition.
Now Itauma might be a completely different proposition to what Whyte and Joshua were on those nights (both were coming back after devastating losses). But at least there is hope we could be enjoying the action past the first couple of rounds.
The ‘Magnificent 7’ undercard
This is a deep card – not just the main event and a lot of filler fluff.
Warren is staging this one to mark 45 years in the promotional game and he’s calling it ‘The Magnificent 7’.
The chief support is a domestic light heavyweight blockbuster which sees Willy Hutchinson (19-2, 14) and Ezra Taylor (13-0, 9) go into battle. Hutchinson will come into the fight fresh from a hugely impressive showing against Mark Jeffers in October, while Taylor accounted for Steed Woodall, with both fighters inflicting stoppage defeats on their opponents.
There is also an all-British featherweight collision for the fans with British and Commonwealth champion Zak Miller (17-1, 3) going up against Liam Davies (17-1, 8). Telford’s Davies was previously the IBO world, British and European champion at super bantamweight, along with holding the WBC and WBO International titles.
The WBO Global middleweight champion Shakiel Thompson (15-0, 11) will face former British champion Brad Pauls (20-2-1, 11). Thompson from Sheffield, a recent Queensberry recruit, won the belt with a defeat of River Wilson-Bent in late 2024.
Also, at 160lbs, Stoke hero Nathan Heaney (19-1-1, 6) is back in the ring, no doubt supported by his army of fans from the Potteries, taking on the Welsh southpaw Gerome Warburton (16-2-2, 2). Then, at lightweight, Alex Murphy (14-2) goes up against the English champion Josh Holmes (17-0, 6) while another lightweight clash sees Aqib Fiaz (14-1, 2) take on Jordan Flynn (12-1-1, 2).
