Boxing
Moses Itauma – The last stop before title town
Itauma vs Franklin: Subscribe to watch - Saturday
We live in an age of smoke and mirrors. Instagram and other social media platforms that only show us at our happiest. Photos that need six takes and then a heavy filter for good measure. We now elevate the mundane to an art form of inflated importance.
A Spaghetti Bolognese is no longer eaten; it is experienced. We must respect it. There are angles to consider and lighting to negotiate. “Game changer,” declares the caption, bravely redefining a bog-standard meal. One suspects that if pasta could speak, it would ask in an Italian lilt for a little more privacy.
The tension between "hype" (marketing, public perception, and sensationalism) and "substance" (actual performance, fairness, and integrity) is a defining conflict in modern sports, most notably in boxing.
We get it. A promoter is there to sell PPV’s and put bums on seats in arenas. Hyperbole is their stock in trade.
And so this weekend, live on DAZN, we get the next glimpse of the best prospect in boxing. Moses Itauma is the sure thing, the heavyweight that is going to rule when Oleksandr Usyk decides to walk away.
Following his first-round knockout of Dillian Whyte last time out Frank Warren – a man who has been in the game for north of 40 years so knows a bit about the noble art - said that in all his years in boxing, Itauma is "the best talent I've seen at such a young age". He noted, “a 20-year-old fighter at this level … 13 fights, is the best at this stage of his career I've ever been involved with, without a doubt”.
It’s easy to see why people are getting excited. There were rumours about this kid as a teenager, sparring stories that have become legend. And so far, he has been flawless. But some perspective is needed. He has never been 10 rounds yet. And never fought in a fight that has been scheduled for 12 rounds.
Jermaine Franklin is next, who looks the perfect test for ‘Enriko’ at this stage of his career. The American is 24-2 (15) and has never been stopped. UK fight fans will remember him giving Whyte all he can handle in 2022 and six months later taking Anthony Joshua the distance at the O2.
He is only 32 years old, not ancient by heavyweight standards, and so should be ambitious this weekend. The Saginaw, Michigan roughhouse will know if he can somehow upset the odds, he would have some serious financial leverage when it comes to negotiations for the inevitable rematch that Team Itauma would want to negotiate.
There is, in boxing, a peculiar appetite for certainty. It hangs in the air on fight week spoken in the clipped confidence of trainers on social media reels and the hopeful absolutism of promoters.
On every podcast I have listened to about this fight, the talk has been not about whether Itauma would win but how he would win. The tribal conviction of those pundits and press men who have already decided the ending before the first bell has been struck.
Moses Itauma only focused on Jermaine Franklin
Watch: Why Itauma is not thinking of becoming a world champion
Itauma has been anointed early. Heavyweight hope. Future champion. The next big thing. That’s a lot of pressure on his young shoulders. The irony is that to listen to him is to listen to someone who is real. No bluster. No arrogance. Just a quiet confidence he can get where he wants to be in the sport.
The trouble with being the future is that it arrives all too soon.
Franklin is a real heavyweight. And should Itauma smoke the American inside say three rounds – the clamour for him to be matched in title class will be deafening. Not necessarily a world title shot, but an eliminator or similar. That’s a big leap in class. He’s only 21. When I was the same age, I was still struggling to turn on a washing machine.
Can he deal with the pressure?
Possibly. Possibly not. This is the only honest answer we can give right now, though it is unlikely to satisfy those media types who prefer shouty prophecy to patience.
‘Enriko’ could do with rounds, and Franklin is noted for his durability. It’s a good match up. Saturday at the Co-op Live in Manchester should tell us a bit more about this blue-chip prospect with the frightening hand speed, ferocious power and nonchalant demeanour.
If he wins early, let’s give him his flowers. If he is taken rounds, then let us acknowledge that in the grand scheme of things this is a positive in terms of development. But most important of all, let us remember that amidst the hype and the hoopla stands a very young heavyweight, trying to do his job.
Watch Itauma vs. Franklin with a DAZN subscription
Knockout sensation Moses Itauma faces his toughest test against Jermaine Franklin this Saturday night, March 28. Watch exclusively with a DAZN Ultimate subscription to also get PPVs Chisora vs. Wilder (April 4), Wardley vs. Dubois (May 9), and Usyk vs Verhoeven (May 23) included.
Sign up for £22.99 / $44.99 per month. More details here.
