There have been few attempts to hide the theory behind drafting Jermaine Franklin as the next opponent for fast-rising heavyweight contender Moses Itauma.

The 21-year-old from Chatham has not been beyond the second round for two-and-a-half years and swept aside former world heavyweight title challenger Dillian Whyte in just 119 seconds of their August clash.

Itauma, therefore, is in desperate need of ring time and Franklin, the 32-year-old "989 Assassin" from Saginaw, Michigan, has been selected in a bid to "give him rounds." The suggestion is that Franklin can’t win, but based on previous form should be able to survive six minutes at least.

Franklin, who will face Itauma on January 24 at Manchester’s Co-op Live Arena, is well aware of the narrative but is no fan of it. “I’ve heard that,” he tells The Ring. “It’s very disrespectful.

“This is the boxing game. They always try to bring somebody down just to boost somebody else up. It is what it is, but I do take some stuff personally.”

Franklin (24-2, 15 KOs) has never been stopped in his career with 12-round decision defeats to Anthony Joshua and Whyte. A quick victory for Itauma (13-0, 11 KOs) this time around would represent another statement for The Ring’s No. 7 heavyweight.

His searing charge towards the upper echelons of the division slowed in 2025, during which he boxed only twice — that victory over Whyte and a two-round demolition job on Mike Balogun in May. Given he stopped Demsey McKean inside two minutes of their December 2024 fight, it means Itauma has completed just one round of action in the past 18 months.

For Franklin, a student of the game, it has meant there is precious little footage of Itauma to get his teeth into, but he has done his best in preparation.

“They're short but I’ve already gone back and watched hella fights of his,” Franklin said. “I’ve watched some of them three or four times.

“I like to pick small stuff apart so I want to see if he has a habit in one fight, does it continue into the next one? It’s all about stuff like that. I like to pick small stuff because, to me, small stuff is big advantages.

“He’s going to come to fight. I’m just here to show people that I’m no pushover. I’m not someone to mess around with.”

The pair have already crossed paths briefly, when Franklin was in town to spar Fabio Wardley, Itauma’s stablemate under Ben Davison.

“We talked,” he said. “We had a conversation and I wished him well. Me and Moses don’t have any bad blood. This is all just for the love of the sport. Now we’re ready to go to work for it.

“He’s a good young fighter who has accomplished a lot in his time. Now it’s fight time so all the nice stuff goes out the window but I think he’s a great fighter.”

Given he beat Ivan Dychko on September 13, this represents a quick turnaround for Franklin, who had been out of the ring for 14 months. “That was a nice little layoff,” he said.

Despite admitting he was on auto-pilot against Dychko due to the death of his father in the build up, Franklin made no mistakes against the dangerous Kazakh, leaving Las Vegas with a contentious unanimous decision after 10.

And it is a new-look Franklin in 2026. Gone are his trademark dreadlocks after 11 years, in comes a new mentality for the heavyweight who knows an upset victory could well deliver him a world title shot within the next 12 months.

“It’s back to business quickly for me,” he says. “I do feel revived a little bit. I get to do what I love and I get to do it consistently. It has awakened a fire in me. And I feel faster without my hair. I move my head a little bit and it added weight to my neck. I got better motion now.

“And this is a division changing real fast. The rumours is a lot of guys will be retiring next year so it’s really going to be wide open. I see a big sea change coming and hopefully I’m next on top of that throne.”

Given the only two defeats of his career came on British soil, the country has not been a happy hunting ground for Franklin, who still insists he should have got the decision against Whyte after 12 close rounds in November 2022. Now he will arrive in Manchester better equipped to deal with his position as away fighter.

“I say this with the utmost respect,” Franklin said. “But I learned that when you fight people in their country you will never get a fair shot. You have to make those people respect you and you have to earn the win.

“A lot of people say the Dillian fight was close but I think I easily won that fight 7-5. Yes Joshua beat me, I can be a man about that.

“But now it just means I’m prepared to do whatever it takes. Whether I got to get ugly, that’s what it’s got to be. I won’t let the referee or the judges deter me or how I fight. I’m going to make the best of the situation.

“I’m so gullible about boxing that I never thought it would happen to me. I didn’t see it happen on TV so I didn’t think I’d be part of that experience. It was a real eye-opener.”