A busy January schedule suffered a significant setback when Moses Itauma was forced to withdraw from his scheduled January 24 clash with Jermaine Franklin.
The 21-year-old heavyweight prodigy was set to headline Queensberry Promotions’ latest Magnificent 7 card at Manchester’s Co-op Live Arena. However, injury struck, forcing the southpaw’s withdrawal and prompting organisers to postpone the entire event. The card has now been rearranged for March 28 at the same venue.
News of the postponement was met with disappointment from fans on social media, while for fighters lower down the bill the consequences were more tangible. Training camps had already been completed, sparring partners paid and preparations finalised, meaning the delay carries an unavoidable financial sting.
Queensberry promoter Frank Warren outlined the severity of Itauma’s injury when speaking to the Clubhouse Boxing podcast, making clear there was no scenario in which his fighter could have competed.
“Very unfortunate. He’s torn a bicep muscle and he was giving it a rest. The feeling was it would be okay but he went and had another MRI and it’s torn. A specialist has said it’s impossible for him to fight and we’re not going to let him fight if he’s not ready to. So unfortunately it’s been postponed.”
The delay will extend Itauma’s time out of the ring to seven months. He has not fought since August, when he produced a devastating one-round demolition of former world title challenger Dillian Whyte, a performance that firmly announced his arrival at world level.
For Franklin, the wait will be nearly as long. The American has not boxed since September, when he outpointed Ivan Dychko on the Terence Crawford–Canelo Alvarez undercard. Having previously dropped a contentious majority decision to Whyte in 2022, Franklin will now have to wait a little longer for another opportunity to reinsert himself into the heavyweight conversation.
