Keys to Victory: How can Moses Itauma and Jermaine Franklin unlock each other?

The 21-year-old sensation will look for another spectacular performance in inching closer to a heavyweight world title opportunity Saturday night when he clashes with veteran Jermaine Franklin Jr. The bout headlines the action from Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England, and live on DAZN.

Itauma (13-0, 11 KOs) is coming off of a first-round destruction of another battled-tested vet in Dillian Whyte, who he overwhelmed with a surge of firepower toward a rousing victory in August. He collides with Franklin (24-2, 15 KOs) whose two losses have come against Whyte and Anthony Joshua. Franklin last generated a unanimous decision over Ivan Dychko in September.

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Will Itauma dazzle once again, knocking down the door to a possible title shot later this year? Or will Franklin somehow produce what would be a mammoth upset? DAZN News analyzes the Keys to Victory for this heavyweight matchup.

Moses Itauma’s Keys to Victory

Assert hand speed early

The biggest disparity between Moses Itauma and Jermaine Franklin Jr. is the former’s dashing hand speed is levels above that of his veteran opponent.

The sooner Itauma can assert this mismatch, the sooner his hand can be raised.

That means splitting Franklin’s guard early … and often.

Dip into deep bag of shot selection

An aspect of Itauma’s fight game that makes him a 21-year-old phenom is his ability to dip into a deep bag of shot selection. Explosive shot selection.

The British superstar in the making seemingly has every punch as part of his repertoire with the ability to piece together combinations, choosing the right punch at the apt time.

Knowing Franklin cannot match hand speed with him, Itauma should feel free to create and improvise with his punch palette.

Mash the dash with pressure

At 6-foot-4, Itauma is able to generate speed and power in what has been a devastating load for opposing heavyweights to deal with, especially when the 21-year-old is putting them on the back foot.

Itauma’s forward-fighting force has been sort of what nightmares are made of. If he senses Franklin cannot contend with his hand speed, Itauma ought to mash the gas pedal with pressure to attempt what Whyte and AJ couldn’t — stop the heavyweight out of Michigan.

Jermaine Franklin’s Keys to Victory

Stand ground early

Jermaine Franklin Jr. must stand his ground early against any Moses Itauma offense.

Doing this successfully could send the message to the 21-year-old that Franklin is a durable veteran who has too much ring savvy to be disposed of like others who have felt Itauma’s wrath.

This stand could come in the form of pushing off on Itauma, coming up with his own pointed offense or even eating a punch in order to land one of his own. But he obviously doesn’t want to overdo the latter.

Time Itauma with counters

If Itauma is going to fight forward as he has against past opponents, the onus is on Franklin to retort with timed counterpunches that inform the 21-year-old that Saturday night will not be an easy day at the office.

A timed right hand, in particular, could be the apt counter to a missed left from the southpaw Itauma.

Punch in traffic

Itauma is very seamless with his combinations. When a veteran like Franklin senses the Brit is about to piece together a combination, he must be physical in punching in traffic.

Doing this effectively entails standing his ground and counterpunching, but also actively seeking out pure offense in the windows he gets in the pocket.

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.

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