By Charles Brun: WBC interim heavyweight champion Dillian Whyte won’t be fighting Andy Ruiz Jr next as many fans had hoped to take place. American Jermaine Franklin remains the likely opponent for Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs), not former IBF/WBA/WBO champion Ruiz.
One of the drawbacks to Dillian fighting an unknown guy like Franklin is that if he gets beaten, that will be a bitter pill to swallow.
Since no one knows who Franklin is, it will be harder for Whyte to try and explain away the defeat than if he were fighting a top 15 contender.
If Whyte loses to Franklin, 27, he can forget about using his WBC title to challenge champion Tyson Fury in 2022. It was already beaten enough that the 41-year-old washed-up Alexander Povetkin knocked Whyte out cold last year.
Andy Jr was supposed to be fighting a good heavyweight after his recent bounceback fight against 40-year-old Chris Arreola on May 1st. Ruiz wants a rematch with Anthony Joshua after fighting him twice in 2019.
However, Ruiz hasn’t helped himself get the third fight by sitting and not fighting during 2020 and then coming back against Arreola last May after a year and a half out of the ring.
It was thought that Ruiz was serious about wanting to fight Whyte or Luis Ortiz, but now it appears that he was just name-dropping to get attention on himself without really intending to fight either of them.
“No, we are not holding talks regarding a potential fight with Dillian Whyte,” David A. Garcia, Ruiz Jr’s attorney, said to Sky Sports.
“Although I believe that Andy would welcome the opportunity to fight Mr. Whyte one day.”
It’s going to be interesting to see who Ruiz ends up fighting for his next fight.
If it’s not going to be Whyte or Luis Ortiz, who will it be? The way that Joseph Parker and Derek Chisora both looked in their last fight, it’s predictable that Ruiz Jr will fight one of those two next.
Other likely options for Andy Ruiz’s next fight:
- Agit Kabayel
- Hughie Fury
- Otto Wallin
Jermaine Franklin is the frontrunner for Dillian
With Whyte’s fight with Franklin (20-0, 13 KOs0 expected to be shown on DAZN in the States, it would be interesting to know if they have any say-so over the choice of opponent.
If you’re one of the top brass at DAZN, you got to be wondering how many subscribers a match–up between Whyte the little known Franklin will pull in.
Not many boxing fans have seen Franklin fight in the U.S, as he’s not a household name.
Whyte can do a lot better than this, but it seems like he wants a gimme after getting knocked out a year ago by 41-year-old Alexander Povetkin and taking a lot of punishment against 40-year-old Mariuz Wach in December 2019.
Dillian has been specializing in fighting 40-year-olds lately, so his match against the 27-year-old Franklin will break that pattern.
Many boxing fans hoped to see a Ruiz-Whyte fight after Ruiz Jr mentioned recently that Whyte is one of the names that is being considered for his next bout.
Unfortunately, Ruiz Jr vs. Whyte fight isn’t going to happen. Also, Luiz Ortiz,
“It’s the punches that he leaves himself open for; that’s why he has the two defeats by knockout,” said Franklin to Sky Sports about Whyte.
“Alexander Povetkin caught him with an uppercut. Certain times he gets caught with certain punches.
“I don’t want to say he has a glass chin because he took some shots, but if you can catch him at the right time, at the right moments though, you will have a great effect on him,” said Franklin.
It’s kind of difficult to get motivated to see Whyte fight Franklin when the guy has never fought any quality opposition during his career. Franklin’s best wins have come against these fighters:
- Pavel Sour
- Rydell Booker
- Jerry Forrest
- Cory Phelps