Moses Itauma is gearing up for what could be a landmark year. He wants to establish himself as one of the very best heavyweights in the world.
“I feel like I am. I just have to prove it,” Itauma told Sky Sports News.
His first fight of 2026 comes on March 28 when he takes on Jermaine Franklin, a solid American contender who has only lost to Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte, going the distance with both.
Franklin has never been stopped before, but Itauma could put in a statement performance against him. If he does the hype around the 21-year-old heavyweight will only grow.
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Itauma says if the opportunity to fight for a world title was presented to him, he would love to take it
“When your work has been recognised obviously you do feel good about it,” Itauma said. “Jermaine Franklin’s going to be a good fight, I’m looking forward to it.
“Jermaine Franklin’s got a job, I’ve got a job and people outside the ring, they’ve got their job to talk.
“Let me tell you something, the past and the future don’t exist, it’s only the present and in the present I’ve got Jermaine Franklin.”
Itauma’s trainer Ben Davison believes the excitement around the young fighter is well founded.
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Heavyweight boxer Jermaine Franklin fancies his chances against Britain’s Itauma
“I think he’s got the potential to be something that we haven’t seen before, in the sense of the true pound-for-pound best boxer in the world as a heavyweight,” Davison told Sky Sports News.
“I don’t think we’ve had that before. Work to do, we’re not there yet obviously. He has the potential to do that.
“It’s certainly exciting times, as everyone’s aware. Hopefully he can keep his focus. Keep the main thing the main thing and fulfil his potential.”
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Ben Davison says Itauma would take the fight with heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk now, calling it a ‘win-win’
Davison’s gym is enjoying a rich spell of success. Another of his fighters, Fabio Wardley is the reigning WBO heavyweight world champion. At the recent British Boxing Board of Control awards, Wardley was Boxer of the Year, Itauma won the Boxing Writers prize for Young Boxer of the Year and Davison himself was the Boxing News Trainer of the Year.
“Boxing is an individual sport but we’ve very much got a team environment and the culture that we’ve built in the gym is probably the thing I’m most proud of,” Davison said.
“That’s the thing that I’m most proud of and everything else is a bonus.”
Watch Dubois-Harper and Scotney-Flores live on Sky Sports on Sunday April 5.
