Moses Itauma is now one of the hottest commodities in the heavyweight division.
He returned to action on Saturday and pulled off another destructive performance, as he knocked out Dillian Whyte inside the very first round in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
It saw Itauma extend his unbeaten record to 13-0, 11 of those victories coming by knockout, and now 8 of them inside the very first round.
Despite being just 20-years-old, many fans believe Itauma is now ready to mix with the best in the division, with plans in place for him to return before the end of 2025.
Itauma himself revealed after the fight that he would be more than happy to jump straight into a fight with undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, but he has now told Ring Magazine about one man in particular that his team wants him to face.
“I’d love that [Usyk] as well, even if not Usyk, then the guys that deserve to fight Usyk, so like Parker, Zhang and whatnot. My team is stressing about me getting rounds, so that’s why they said Jermaine Franklin would be a good name.”
Jermaine Franklin has a record of 23 wins and 2 defeats, with those losses coming on points to Anthony Joshua and Whyte several years ago. The American has never been stopped in his professional career, and has proven over time to be a tough operator.
It means Itauma could well get some rounds that his team feel he needs, having yet gone to past the sixth round since making his professional debut in January 2023.
