As hard as it is not to get carried away with Itauma – and believe me, it is hard – there is still the need for some perspective. This, after all, is a 21-year-old who has boxed just 14 times as a professional. Even Saturday’s win, as good as it was, came against a man who had previously lost to Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte, neither of whom are in any state to challenge for a heavyweight title, much less hold one. That’s not to say Itauma beating Franklin the way he did should be ignored, but, equally, stopping Franklin inside five rounds should not be the trigger for anyone to now favour Itauma in a fight against someone like Oleksandr Usyk, for instance. There are, as they say, levels to this, and Itauma, though rising fast, is still climbing the lower rungs of the heavyweight ladder.
