Moses Itauma continued his meteoric rise in the heavyweight division on Saturday night, becoming the first boxer to stop Jermaine Franklin with a brutal fifth-round knockout at the Co-op Live arena in Manchester.
The 21-year-old British prospect, now 14-0 with 12 knockouts, dropped Franklin with a short right hand in the third round and finished the American in the fifth with a devastating rear uppercut followed by a right hand. Franklin, 32, had previously gone the distance with Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte.
Promoter Frank Warren indicated that Itauma could return to the ring this summer, with potential opponents including the winner of the upcoming Fabio Wardley vs Daniel Dubois fight or the Justis Huni vs Frazer Clarke bout on 11 April.
