Moses Itauma vs Jermaine Franklin postponed as Briton suffers injury with new date confirmed

Moses Itauma has been ruled out of his clash with Jermaine Franklin after suffering an injury.

The pair were set to meet in a heavyweight showdown on January 24 in Manchester, with rising star Itauma looking to remain active.

But unfortunately he has now suffered an injury during preparations for the event.

It means the entire Magnificent 7 show has now been postponed, with Itauma unable to compete.

Proceedings will now be moved until March 28, with fighters set for a delay of two months.

A statement was released by Queensberry Promotions, which read:
“Unfortunately Moses Itauma has sustained an injury in camp.

“Therefore the Magnificent 7 show has been re-scheduled for March 28th.”

It is a frustrating blow for Itauma who was hoping to stay active and boost his chances of a world title shot.

The 20-year-old was hoping to push forward and attempt to become Britain’s youngest ever heavyweight champion.

But the two month delay will once again stall his plans as he looks to try and enforce a shot at either Oleksandr Usyk or Fabio Wardley.

It has already been a tough job for Itauma to secure an opponent, having missed out on a shot at Kubrat Pulev in December.

A WBA order suggested he would get his shot at the WBA ‘regular’ title, but Murat Gassiev was able to creep in and earn the fight, stopping the Bulgarian.

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Big year planned for Itauma now on hold

Itauma is arguably the hottest property in boxing right now and has blasted everyone out so far in his professional career.

Many were concerned that he would simply be unable to get experience of going into deeper waters and later rounds.

That is because he stopped Dillian Whyte emphatically in one round, and seems destined to keep rolling all the way to the top of the division.

Hopes were pinned on Franklin being able to give Itauma a sterner test and prepare him for the elite in the glamour division, but that is now on hold.

Nonetheless, promoter Frank Warren suggested he believes this is the year for Itauma to put his claim to a world title, prior to the delay.

He told talkSPORT last week: “We’ve got a really, really good quality fight with Moses against Jermaine Franklin.

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“You know, he’s never been stopped, and this is a tough fight for him.

“I think this is going to be the fight that will set [Itauma] up.

“I hope he comes through, and it will set him up this year to challenge for a world title.”