Moses Itauma has opened up on the bicep injury which forced the postponement of his heavyweight clash with American Jermaine Franklin Jr. earlier this year.
Itauma (13-0, 11 KOs) was set to face Franklin (24-2, 15 KOs) on Jan. 24 in Manchester, before it was confirmed six days out from the fight that the Brit had been injured in training.
The fight will now take place in March 28 at the same venue with the same undercard.
The 21-year-old explained he tried to carry on after injuring his bicep, before promoter Frank Warren stepped in and told him to get it checked properly.
“I had a sparring session and that’s when I’d done it,” Itauma said. “I said to Frank, ‘I’ve done this, I’ve done that’ … And then he told me to go get a scan. I was like ‘no, I’ll be alright, I’ll be alright.’
“I was trying my best to kind of recover a tear because I thought it was like a little niggle, as boxers we just carry on and push through it.”
After a brief spell out, when he returned to the gym it became clear the injury was worse than first thought.
“The next day I woke up and I was miles better but I wasn’t fully recovered,” he said.
“Then a week or so later I thought I’ll be ready and I sparred, threw a punch and I just felt that something was not correct.
“So I told Frank that I’ve got the same problem and it’s not really going [away]. He said, ‘go get a scan, go get a scan, I won’t let you fight unless you get a scan.’
“Then I get a scan and then obviously I had a grade two tear and it was me trying to push through it as if nothing’s happened.”

Itauma said he could hardly even run for a time due to the injury, but is now back in full training and sparring ahead of next month’s return to the ring.
The Brit is considered one of the most promising heavyweights on the planet, but hasn’t fought since August last year due to various injuries and being unable to find a suitable opponent.
