The 21-year-old southpaw hasn’t boxed since August, when he blew away faded former world title challenger Dillian Whyte within two minutes of what was supposed to be a step up.

Fully recovered from the torn biceps that caused the fight with Franklin to be pushed back from its original date of January 24th, Itauma (13-0, 11 KOs) gets his 2026 campaign off to a belated start this weekend.

A series of stunning, quick finishes have seen Itauma anointed as the future of the heavyweight division, but the gap between the caliber of opposition he has been facing and the division’s top names is vast.

Already ranked at No. 7 by The Ring, Itauma needs rounds. However, with a world title challenge starting to loom large, he will gain little from chasing a negative opponent around the ring.

He needs to share the ring with a fighter who is capable of standing up to the inevitable early storm and then posing questions of his own.

Itauma’s promoter Frank Warren is a master at choosing the right opponent at the right time, and the team at Queensberry has decided that Franklin (24-2, 15 KOs) should fit the bill perfectly.

The old-school American is well known to British fans. In November 2022, the 32-year-old dropped a close majority decision to Whyte, but a solid showing earned him a return ticket to England. And he gave two-time unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua a solid test before losing another 12-round decision.

Importantly, Franklin also still has ambitions of his own. In September, the Michigan-native scored a career best victory over the previously-undefeated Ivan Dychko. And rather than jetting into the UK at the last moment, he has been in there for weeks and has been sparring regularly at Don Charles’ gym on the outskirts of London.

Itauma’s first headline appearance has certainly captured the imagination of British boxing fans. A large crowd is expected at Manchester’s cavernous Co-op Live Arena for what is a packed show.

The Ring’s Mike Coppinger and Max Kellerman have made their predictions. Think you can beat them? Predict winners for prizes.

Moses Itauma: "Jermaine Franklin's obviously here to give me a couple of rounds, but he's here to win. As easy as it is for people just to say that he can give me a couple of rounds, I’ve got to live up to them high expectations. For me, it's just to win. Whether it's in round one, round two, round three, my goal is to win and I guess his goal is to win as well. I guess if we get to the later rounds, we get there. If not, then we go home early, boys.”

Jermaine Franklin: “I think the experience helps me in the long run. I know I probably know some some smaller, finer details inside and out the ring that could help me experience-wise, so I’ll just use it to my advantage. If I could see that he's lacking some experience where I got some, I’ll just use it to my advantage. I'm not them (Itauma’s other opponents). I'm Jermaine Franklin Jr. I'm a warrior inside and out, and I die for this. So, he’s gonna have to do the job. I'm not laying over for nobody.”

The fight is expected to be Itauma's toughest test to date, but he's still priced at 1/25 (-2500) to win. Franklin is a 12/1 (+1200) outsider. Itauma is 3/10 (-333) to become the first man to stop Franklin.

The show is entitled “The Magnificent Seven” and contains a number of well matched fights.

The light heavyweight battle between Willy Hutchinson and Ezra Taylor catches the eye. The talented but unpredictable Hutchinson represents a sizeable step up in opposition for Taylor, who trains with Deontay Wilder’s former mentor Malik Scott. Taylor earned his nickname of “The Cannon” with some spectacular early career finishes and may need to land something heavy if he is to upset Hutchinson.

The Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, UK.

The busy show will be streamed live on DAZN from 1 p.m. ET/5 p.m. GMT.