Frank Warren reveals exact injury Moses Itauma suffered to postpone Jermaine Franklin fight

Disaster struck last week when Moses Itauma was forced to postpone his fight with Jermaine Franklin.

A press release from Queensberry Promotions confirmed that the stacked Magnificent 7 bill, originally scheduled for January 26, had been pushed back to March 28 after Itauma sustained an undisclosed injury in camp.

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In a subsequent interview with talkSPORT’s Spencer Oliver over on Clubhouse Boxing YouTube channel, Queenbsberry chief Frank Warren confirmed it was a torn bicep that derailed the fight.

“He was giving it a rest, and the feeling was it would be okay, but he went and had another MRI, and it’s torn,” Warren said.

“A specialist has said it’s impossible for him to fight, and we’re not going to let him fight if he’s not ready to.”

A torn bicep can take anywhere from four weeks to six months to recover from.

Given the timeline from the original date to the new one, the tear is likely to have been minor.

The delay extends Itauma’s layoff to seven months.

His last outing came in August when he blasted away Dillian Whyte inside the opening stanza.

And while many expected that fight to catapult Itauma into blockbuster showdowns with the division’s best, his handlers pumped the brakes to book a bout with Franklin.

The consensus belief amongst Itauma’s team is that he needs to bank more rounds for his development.

In 13 professional fights, the Chatham southpaw has just 26 rounds to his name.

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Only two of his opponents have seen the final bell, while the others haven’t made it out of the second stanza.

The expectation is that Franklin will be able to extend him further, having taken both Anthony Joshua and Whyte the distance.

Once his final learning fight is ticked off, Itauma won’t be short of options.

At present, he is ranked No.1 by the WBA and WBO, respectively, while he also occupies the No.4 spot with the WBC and No.13 position with the IBF.

The IBF had ordered the Brit to face Frank Sanchez in a final eliminator at the back end of last year, but the opportunity was rejected.