Future king of the heavyweights? Moses Itauma sends out Franklin statement
Usyk in Itauma's sights after big KO, plus Fundora batters Thurman
Moses Itauma Wins TKO 5 Jermaine Franklin Jr
Heavy-hitting southpaw Moses Itauma reinforced his position as a hot prospect by doing what nobody has done before: blast Jermaine Franklin into oblivion.
The usually durable Michigan heavyweight tried to soak up the shots and mix things up, which led to his downfall in round five. Franklin had already been dropped by a cuffing right hand in round three.
The fifth-round uppercut came out of the blue as Franklin switched off inside the pocket. Talk of a fight with Oleksandr Usyk is fanciful despite Itauma’s clear skillset and rapid rise.
Usyk is a generational great, although he might be tempted to put the young upstart in his place, or, more likely, drop a series of belts, leaving Itauma and the rest to fight for the scraps.
“I’ve got to thank Jermaine Franklin as well. It takes two to tango, so I appreciate it,” said Itauma.
“I tried to knock him out in the first and second round, trying to win a few people some dough. I just feel like, maybe not today.
“So, I went back to the basics, switch it, go down to the body. And then the knockout just came. I’m just a young boy chasing a dream.”
Promoter Frank Warren added: “He’s [Usyk] got to defend his mandatories. That’s what they’re all there for, to be done. So, I’m pretty confident he’ll [Itauma] fight for the world title this year.”
On the Manchester undercard, Willy Hutchinson used his nous and skills to outwit Ezra Taylor over 10. Liam Davies bludgeoned Francesco Grandelli in six rounds to win the European title.
Brad Pauls was well behind when he scored a stunning ninth-round knockout over Sheffield’s Shakiel Thompson. Nathan Heaney’s career is on the ropes after he suffered a wide points reverse to Gerome Warburton.
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Sebastian Fundora Wins TKO 6 Keith Thurman
Once upon a time, Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman was a unified world champion, riding high, trailing after a Floyd Mayweather fight. Inactivity, injury and general wear and tear have caught up with him.
Even though Thurman contested referee Thomas Taylor’s intervention in the sixth, it was a compassionate decision from the referee to halt the contest. Thurman had been beaten from pillar to post by the spidery Sebastian Fundora in the MGM Grand, Las Vegas.
Gigantic for the weight, Fundora stood off and used his long levers to punish Keith with jabs and uppercuts, slicing up Thurman’s face, making him look like an old man whose best days have long since passed.
Fundora retained his WBC super-welterweight title and is in prime position for unficiations. A fight with already-unified beltholder Xander Zayas would be an exciting brawl and would serve to push the division closer to an undisputed conclusion.
On the Las Vegas supporting portion, Kevin Newman II stunned former prospect Elijah Garcia with a majority decision upset. Yoenli Hernandez kept beating up Terrell Gausha until referee Allen Huggins stopped it in four.
Yoenis Tellez continued to rebuild following his first loss last year, defeating Brian Mendoza over 10 rounds. Jiggly heavyweight Gurgen ‘Big Gug’ Hovhannisyan stopped the significantly smaller Cesar Navarro in round five.
Image Credits: Queensberry Promotions, PBC/Amazon Prime.
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Moses Itauma is super technical. Look out!