Moses Itauma Stops Jermaine Franklin, Eyes Heavyweight Title Contention

When Moses Itauma's uppercut sent Jermaine Franklin to the canvas in the fifth round, the 21-year-old Briton's first instinct was disbelief. "Did I really do that?" he thought, standing in a Manchester arena over a man who had gone 12 rounds with Anthony Joshua.

He really did. The unbeaten British southpaw, 13-0 with 11 knockouts entering Saturday's scheduled 10-round bout on DAZN, stopped the 32-year-old American and delivered the most significant result of his three-year career, placing himself squarely in the conversation for a world heavyweight title.

The finish answered a specific question that had followed Itauma through his rapid rise. Franklin had done something no opponent in the previous nine fights managed: pushed him past the second round. Itauma had accumulated just 26 professional rounds total before Saturday. The fifth-round knockout was not just a win; it was evidence that his pattern of historically early stoppages does not represent a ceiling.

The career began in a debut that lasted 23 seconds. Since then, Itauma, a 6-foot-2 southpaw who combines power with elite hand speed and footwork, dismantled opponents of every variety. Former world title contender Dillian Whyte, 37, didn't last two minutes. Mariusz Wach and Mike Balogun, both in their 40s, fell just as quickly. Most recently, Itauma dropped and stopped Australia's Demsey McKean in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on December 21, 2024. None of those previous nine opponents made it out of Round 2.

Critics had pointed to the ages of that opposition. The Franklin fight had been 18 months in the making partly as a result, delayed further by injuries and a seven-month absence from the ring as Itauma struggled to find opponents willing to face him. When the bout was finally signed, his team and the public treated it as the genuine test his record had lacked.

"They [media] keep asking me about other heavyweights, I have a serious opponent in Jermaine Franklin," Itauma said at the Manchester press conference ahead of the fight. "We've asked for this fight for a year-and-a-half. Now we've got it I feel like this is the final piece of the puzzle. There's questions that my team want to know about me, questions I want to know about myself and there's a lot of questions fans want to know about me as well."

Franklin had earned that billing. His two career losses came in 12-round decisions: a majority decision to Dillian Whyte, and then, just over four months later, a points defeat to former two-time world champion Anthony Joshua three years ago. He carried a 24-2 record and 15 knockouts into Manchester, making him the most credentialed opponent Itauma had ever faced.

The fifth-round uppercut settled the debate over whether Itauma belonged at that level. At 14-0, he has now positioned himself directly in line for a world title shot. Oleksandr Usyk, who holds three major belts, is already the subject of fan speculation, though the Ukrainian champion has publicly downplayed such a matchup. Itauma had mapped out the logic before the fight landed: "I feel like Jermaine Franklin is the final piece of the puzzle. So, when I get asked about other fighters, that's not going to happen if I don't get through Jermaine Franklin."

The comparisons to a young Mike Tyson began early in his career and have only intensified with each finish. At 21, with a credentialed heavyweight veteran stopped cold in the fifth round, the reluctant superstar label is becoming harder to escape.