Moses Itauma backed to surpass Anthony Joshua achievement in next fight

talkBOXING pundits believe Moses Itauma will do what Anthony Joshua couldn’t and stop Jermaine Franklin.

Itauma will take another step towards his plan to become heavyweight world champion later this month when he takes on Franklin on March 28.

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The American has never been stopped in his career, and has shown to have a sturdy defence which has rarely been penetrated.

Dillian Whyte and Joshua are the two boxers to have beaten the ‘989 Assassin’, with the latter outpointing him by unanimous decision in 2023.

But talkBOXING are unanimous in their verdict that Itauma will be the first fighter to get the job done on Franklin inside the distance.

Simon Jordan first said: “I think Moses will knock Jermaine Franklin out.”

He then posed the question to former world champion Sunny Edwards, who continued: “Yeah I think he’ll take him to pieces.

“I think he’ll go through Franklin in a matter of rounds and do what Joshua didn’t.

“Just like he did with Dillian Whyte no-one else went through him in like 30/40 seconds like he did.

“He’s got that freshness of a young fighter who is very skilled. He’s physically very strong.

“When you’ve boxing that long, he has got a brilliant understanding of his body and movement like Oleksandr Usyk.

“He is so good, so calculated and his shot selection is fantastic.”

It would be a real statement if he is to continue his destructive path against Franklin in Manchester.

Itauma’s world title plan – but no Usyk?

Itauma is looking increasingly like he could fight for a world title in 2026.

The most obvious option would be against unified champion Usyk, but the Ukrainian has turned down interest in any bout.

It was a cool and calm reaction from the Chatham native who conceded he would become champion in any route he can take.

And Edwards believe Usyk will see the pair simply at different stages of their physical powers with no need to risk being taken out by the new arrival.

He continued: “He’s probably thinking I’ll get these three out of the way and then I’ll be done.

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“Itauma is coming into his years of his physical peak, and Usyk is coming into the stages when things will slow down and things will get harder.

“But I’d like to see him face Itauma, we’ve already seen him against Daniel Dubois and Tyson Fury.”