Via Adam Baskin: Guest boxer Jermaine Franklin will fight KO favorite Dillian Whyte this Saturday, November 26, on DAZN at Wembley Arena in London.
This bout will take Franklin (21-0, 14 KOs) to a life-changing matchup with Anthony Joshua for money that will likely cover him for the rest of his life.
Whyte has earned his money, but Franklin hasn’t, and he’s hungry, ready to vent his frustrations at the 34-year-old ‘Body Stalker’ in front of his own fans in London.
Eddie Hearn: “Welcome, Jermaine. This is a step forward for you. This is a guy who has been boxing at the elite level of heavyweight for a long time. Hearn said to Boxing match.
Jermaine Franklin: “I liked it here [the UK]. I got some great work with world champions. I enjoyed the welcome. This is my time to show off my skills to show what I can do at the highest level. It’s just confidence. I am confident in what I can do and am ready to prove it.
“It was just one of my punches [uppercut]. I’m not looking to capitalize on what others have done. It’s just something in my arsenal. If it can work, I will use it.”
to listen: “Dillian, here’s a new challenge for you against an undefeated fighter. You’ve been there before as a loser. I look at you in this war as if you had everything to lose in this war. You value this guy. You see this guy as a real threat. Do you consider this guy a real danger?
Dillian Whyte: “I have a lot of respect for this guy. He’s undefeated, has been through his ups and downs, and he’s struggling for his family business with everything in his personal life. He will come to fight.
“I’ve seen a lot of Americans come here saying they’re going to do this and they’re going to do that. A lot of people always underestimate me, so that’s nothing new. So that’s good, good.
“He is saying all the right things. He didn’t say, ‘I’m going to try this, and I’m going to try and knock him down.’ That’s even better for me. He is a good fighter. There were 21 fighters who tried to defeat him.
“There are many levels to this, and you know me. I try to find a way to win. Either way I get it, I’ll knock him out. I’m definitely looking to take him down.
“I brought a lot of rage in the ring for a long time. It’s time to bring more rage back into the ring.
to listen: “Do you think it was a mistake in the fight with Fury when the rage wasn’t quite there?”
Why: “That war was then, and this is now. I don’t care about the fight with Fury. That happened. I’m not who I am, and I didn’t present myself the way I should. It’s good that I can fight like this now.
“I was trying to fight this guy for a minute. I tried to fight him for a while. He acted like I was trying to avoid him.
“We have been trying to fight him for a long time. This is not the first time we have banded together to fight. We should have fought him a long time ago, but he kept saying, ‘No, my wife is doing this, my children are doing this.’ You are a professional boxer.
“You go into the ring and fight no matter what is happening in your life. I didn’t perform that night, but it was.”
to listen: “Jermaine, the opportunity comes now. You are a few yards from Dillian. You have pursued it for a long time. Do you think this is the right time to get Dillian Whyte and put pressure on him at Wembley Arena?”
Franklin: “No, the pressure is on both of us. So I can say I’ve been trying to get this fight for a while, so I don’t know what’s going on in the negotiations and stuff like that, but we tried. to get this fight for a while . We’ve been pushing for a while. I was just getting ready.”
Why: “You’re not trying not to fight me. I’m not hard to find.”
Franklin: “Yeah, we’re looking.”
Why: “I was never hard to find.”
Franklin: “We have been promoting that. Last year, two years ago, it was supposed to be a war with you guys, but then the fight was gone.
Why: “You were not involved at the time. Now you are involved.
Franklin: “I don’t know what is going on. Like I said, we pushed this.”
Why: “You’re not involved.”
Franklin: “You did not accept the war. That’s what you’re saying.
Why: “That’s not how I’m talking. You were not involved. We sat down, and my promoters said, ‘We’re after this, so why are we after this?’ Why don’t I fight Fury to fight you?
Franklin: “That’s how it was before the fight with Fury. You didn’t even have a fight with Fury then.”
Why: “At that time I was fighting the top guys. I’ve been fighting the top guys ranked in the top 10 for years.”
Franklin: “Like I said, we’ve been pushing for this opportunity for a long time. I don’t know what the hell is going on in the negotiations. We had people above us.
Why: “You don’t sound like a really smart person. You may be a good fighter, but you don’t sound very smart.”
Franklin: “You can put it any way you want to put it. You’ve got people above you making decisions as well.
Why: “There is no one better than me. I do my own s**t. No one.”
Franklin: “Like I said, I pushed for the fight, and he said I wasn’t involved.”
to listen: Do you think he made a mistake in choosing you? This is what we do. We fight. I don’t think anyone makes mistakes.”
Why: “You said I made a mistake a few weeks ago. You said you would knock me down.
Franklin: “That’s what I’m going to do. I’m there to take you into your one**.
Why: “I’m about to knock those scary people out of your head, man.”
Franklin: “Let’s go see.”
Why: “There are many aspects to me. You will see.
Franklin: “I like that way of talking. Are you talking as if I’m not bothered by that ***?
Why: “I want you to be bothered. I hate scary people.”
Franklin: “You are a man just like I am a man. We bleed the same way.
Why: “Yes, of course.”
to listen: “One thing we know about Dillian Whyte is that every fight is about maximum violence. Every fight is a thrilling war. How deep do you expect to go? Do you expect to be able to fight him in that department?
Franklin: “Yeah, I’m always ready to fight fire with fire. I’m always ready to dig deep. That’s what we train for. We are experts. That’s what we do. If you’re at this level and feel like you can’t dig deep into something, this is not what you need to do. Like I said, we are warriors, and warriors will do their best.”
to listen: “There is always danger when a boxer steps into a big occasion. A big crowd, a great level of protest, a pivotal moment and they didn’t step up to take advantage of that opportunity.”
Franklin: “Only the two of us in the ring. I don’t care about crowds, people and arenas. When we were in the ring, it was just the two of us fighting. The crowd doesn’t fight for us, the announcers don’t fight for us, and my promoters don’t fight for us.”
Why: “This is London. Welcome to London. You will hear my men roar.
Franklin: “I heard them say it. That doesn’t affect me.
Why: “You will hear them roar. You will hear my people.
Franklin: “I love the fan enthusiasm here.”
Why: “You will listen to my people.”
Franklin: “It was a war. I don’t care about people shouting and screaming. I don’t care about that. We are here to fight. That doesn’t affect me.
to listen: “Do you rate his strength? Do you think you can stand up to his power?
Franklin: “Yeah, I think I can resist anyone’s power. I didn’t take anything from him. He is an excellent warrior. He has a terrible background, but like I said, he’s a man just like me. I could stand there with the best of them.
to listen: “Dillian, the power to kill with one punch. Do you have to be careful in that? This guy.”
Why: “You need a cup of tea. This guy has not knocked out anyone with a winning record. He struggled to get the distance with Jerry Forrest. I don’t remember his name. He’s 60 years old, and he’s getting away with these types of people.
“I hold power in both hands. Obviously, we’re not going to go and look for it. He’s saying it right now, but watch when the bell rings. I can knock him out in the head and body. One punch, and he might even fall. I don’t need to connect properly. I know I have power. I have speed and strength.
“When I decided to use it and put it together, that was a problem. I have the power to knock down anyone on this planet. Anyone that I touch at some point and they always show signs of being touched. If they haven’t been knocked down or knocked down, they always show signs of being touched. Even in the games I lost, they were emotional.”
