Moses Itauma handed Jermaine Franklin Jr his first stoppage defeat with a highlight-reel fifth round knockout tonight at the CO-OP Live Arena in Manchester.
Itauma (14-0, 12 KOs) did get a few rounds in the bank, and was able to do to Franklin Jr (24-3, 15 KOs) what fellow British heavyweights, Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte, couldn’t.
A right hook stumbled Franklin Jr early in the first round putting the American on the back foot for the entire three minutes with 18 power punches landing. The 21-year-old landed a body shot combination and followed with a clapping left to the head in the second. The round finished with Itauma connecting with a big uppercut.
Itauma slowed a little in the third after trainer Ben Davinson told him ‘you need to break him down.’ A body shot combination pushed Franklin back on the ropes and Itauma followed with a right to the top of the head, sending the American to the canvas near the round’s end. However, Franklin Jr made it to his feet to hear the bell.
Itauma came out in the fourth with ruthless intent, landing a left-right combination upstairs. However, Franklin Jr would sneak a rare shot through, drawing a smile from the Englishman. Itauma cornered his opponent for much of the round, but the American would land a couple of jabs in his best round of the fight.
Franklin Jr took an overhand right to start the fifth shortly followed by a straight left. Then Itauma detonated a ferocious left hand uppercut, sending Franklin Jr flat on his face. Referee Steve Gray immediately waved off the fight at 1:33.
“I tried knocking him out in the first and second rounds trying to earn some people some dough,” Itauma said in the ring after the fight. “I thought, maybe not today. I went back to the basics and went down to the body. Then the knockout just came. It’s not the shot that you load up, it’s the shots you don’t see.”
Brad Pauls Produces Late Finish Against Shakiel Thompson
The biggest highlight of the undercard was middleweight Brad Pauls pulling a ninth-round knockout out of the bag over Shakiel Thompson. The Newquay native was being outboxed for the eight rounds previously and looked tired heading back to his corner. He was told by his trainer that he needed a stoppage to win, which he obliged. Pauls landed a right hand to shake Thompson, and following some less cleaner punches, he put his opponent on the canvas. Thompson would make it to his feet, but the end looked inevitable. Pauls landed two overhand rights to put Thompson down again, promoting referee Howard Foster to wave the fight off at 1:30. Pauls picked up the IBF international belt to put himself in contention for the vacant IBF world title.
Kicking off the main card was Liam Davies, retiring Francesco Grandelli to win the vacant EBU featherweight title. Davies took charge of the fight from the start, comfortably outpointing the Italian in the first three rounds. In the fourth, Davies was loading up with some big shot to the body and would also stick Grandelli on his back with a right-left combination to the chin. Following another round of one-way traffic, Grandelli retired on his stool after five rounds.
Higher up the card, Willy Hutchinson put in a commanding display to win by unanimous decision against Ezra Taylor at light heavyweight. The judges scored the contest: 98-92, 99-91 and 98-92 for Hutchinson to pick up ranking belts with the WBA and WBO.
In the chief support, Gerome Warburton defeated Nathan Heaney at middleweight by unanimous decision. The judges scored the bout 93-97, 92-98 and 93-97.
