MOSES AND THE MAGNIFICENT 7

ON SATURDAY EVENING the Queensberry Train takes a stop at the magnificent Co-op Live in Manchester for a card of boxing that, likewise, is simply magnificent.

Of course, The Magnificent 7 is back on a DAZN screen near you and, as always, this is one not to be missed. The finest and biggest arena in Europe will be packed to the rafters for a clutch of title fights that will surely deliver in a massive way.

Our Magnificent 7 concept, which we began in 2010 in Birmingham and revived in Manchester in 2023, are the strongest top to bottom shows in the whole boxing business. It is basically non-stop title action from start to finish.

There is so much at stake at every level in every fight and this one is no exception. If you love your boxing then the Magnificent 7 is right up your street.

This time around we have a heavyweight headliner that will capture much of the attention because, in the view of most boxing people, we have a not too distant future world champion on parade in his toughest assignment to date.

The name Moses Itauma has already gone mainstream. Everybody in the sport has known for some time that this young man is something special, but word has quickly got around and Moses is already a star beyond boxing, even after just 13 fights as a professional at the age of just 21.

Footage of the way he set about and destroyed the likes of Demsey McKean, Mariusz Wach and Dillian Whyte went viral, so it is not just the British public that knows a heavyweight storm is looming large.

Our job, as ever, is all about getting the timing right. Everything in boxing is about timing and judgement and we haven’t been and won’t be distracted by any hysteria surrounding Moses. We’ve got a career to think about and plan out, not just the next six months or so.

That being said, Moses is indeed travelling in the fast lane. People make comparisons with the speed Mike Tyson became world champion, but go and look at who he was fighting after 13 fights. It was at a different, much lower level to what Moses is operating at currently.

The general consensus is that Moses will be tested tonight by a tough American opponent in Jermaine Franklin Jr, who is familiar to British crowds for his strong performances against Dillian Whyte and Anthony Joshua a couple of years back. Those two fights represent his only career reverses and neither man came close to knocking him over.

This fight will tell us what we need to know about Moses and his readiness to step into world title contention this year.

There are so many cracking fights on the bill, with a few standouts being the light heavyweight collision between Willy Hutchinson and Ezra Taylor, the European featherweight title showdown between Liam Davies and Francesco Grandelli and a middleweight banger between Shakiel Thompson and Brad Pauls, where a world title tilt awaits the winner.

Each and every fight will be fascinating in its own way and you can watch all the action unfold by tuning into DAZN from 5pm.