Moses Itauma to face Jermaine Franklin as old Anthony Joshua rival accepts fight with much-avoided heavyweight

Moses Itauma’s return to the ring has been announced at last, as the young heavyweight sensation takes on Jermaine Franklin.

Itauma, 20, will box the American at Manchester’s Co-op Live Arena on 24 January, a month after the British star was originally due to compete next.

Itauma had been scheduled to fight on the undercard of Derek Chisora’s planned retirement bout on 13 December, also at the Co-op Live, but that event seems to have fallen apart.

As such, Itauma’s next fight was left up in the air, until Monday brought the announcement that he will face Franklin, 32, in January.

In that bout, Itauma will aim to stay unbeaten and edge closer to a world-title shot, as he also looks to build on his emphatic win against Dillian Whyte in August.

Boxing in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Itauma required barely two minutes to stop the former world-title challenger – a former opponent of Anthony Joshua, like Franklin himself.

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open image in gallery

Franklin took Joshua the distance at London’s O2 Arena in 2023, ultimately losing a unanimous decision, five months after taking on Whyte at Wembley Arena in the English capital.

Franklin lost a controversial majority decision on that night, and his defeats by the British pair of Whyte and “AJ” remain his only professional losses.

Franklin last fought in September, outpointing Ivan Dychko on the undercard of the super-fight between Terence Crawford and Canelo Alvarez. That victory took his record to 24-2 (15 knockouts), while Itauma’s stands at 13-0 (11 KOs).