By Adam Baskin: Visiting fighter Jermaine Franklin is coming to KO the favorite Dillian Whyte this Saturday, November 26th, on DAZN at the Wembley Arena in London.
This fight will lead Franklin (21-0, 14 KOs) to a life-changing match-up with Anthony Joshua to make money that could potentially set him up for the rest of his life.
Whyte has already made his money, but Franklin hasn’t, and he’s hungry, ready to pull off the upset against the 34-year-old ‘Body Snatcher’ in front of his own fans in London.
Eddie Hearn: “Welcome, Jermaine. This is a step up for you. This is a guy that has boxed at the elite level of the heavyweight for a long time. You’re a guy who has been dying for an opportunity against the elites in the division,” Hearn said to Matchroom Boxing.
Jermaine Franklin: “I’ve been liking it here [the UK]. I’ve been getting some great work in with world champions. I’ve been liking the welcome. This is my moment to showcase my skills to show what I can do at the top level. It’s just confidence. I’m confident of what I can do, and I’m ready to prove that.
“It’s just one of my punches [uppercut]. I’m not looking to capitalize on what anybody else did. It’s just something in my arsenal. If it can be effective, I’m going to use it.”
Hearn: “Dillian, this is a fresh challenge for you against an unbeaten fighter. You’ve been there before as the underdog. I look at you in this fight like you’ve got everything to lose in this fight. You take this guy seriously. You take this guy as a real threat. Do you take this guy as a real danger?”
Dillian Whyte: “I take this guy seriously. He’s undefeated, has been through his ups and downs, and he’s coming up for his domestic stuff with everything in his personal life. He’s coming to fight.
“I’ve seen a lot of Americans come here talking s**t that they’re going to do this and they’re going to do that. A lot of people underestimate me all the time, so it’s nothing new. So it’s good, it’s good.
“He’s saying all the right things. He’s not saying, ‘I’m going to try this, and I’m going to try and knock him out.’ That’s even better for me. He’s a good fighter. There are 21 fighters that have tried to beat him.
“There are levels in this, and you understand me. I try to find a way to win. Whichever way I got to get it, I’m going to knock him out. I’m definitely looking to knock him out.
“I’ve brought a lot of rage to the ring for a long time. It’s time to bring a lot of rage back to the ring.”
Hearn: “Do you think that was a mistake in the Fury fight that the rage wasn’t quite there?”
Whyte: “That fight was then, and this is now. I don’t give a f**k about the Fury fight. That happened. I wasn’t myself, and I didn’t perform the way I should. It’s good because now I’m able to get fights like this.
“I’ve been trying to fight this guy for a minute. I’ve been trying to fight him for a while. He’s been acting like I’ve been trying to hide from him.
“We were trying to fight him a long time ago. It’s not the first time we’ve been linked to fight. We should have fought him ages ago, but he kept saying, ‘Nah, my wife is doing this, my kids are doing this.’ You’re a professional boxer.
“You get in the ring and fight regardless of what’s going on in your life. I didn’t perform that night, but it is what it is.”
Hearn: “Jermaine, opportunity comes now. You’re a couple of yards away from Dillian. You’ve been chasing 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 was going on during negotiations and s**t like that, but we’ve been trying to get this fight for a while. We’ve been pushing for a while. I’m just ready.”
Whyte: “You weren’t pushing for no fight with me. I’m not hard to find.”
Franklin: “Yeah, we’ve been looking.”
Whyte: “I’ve never been hard to find.”
Franklin: “We’ve been pushing for that. Last year, two years ago, it was supposed to be a fight with y’all, but then the fight vanished.”
Whyte: “You weren’t relevant then. Now you’re relevant.”
Franklin: “I don’t know what was going on. Like I said, we were pushing for this.”
Whyte: “You weren’t relevant.”
Franklin: “You didn’t accept the fight. That’s what you’re saying.”
Whyte: “That’s not way I’m saying. You were irrelevant. We sat down, and my promoters said, ‘We’re chasing this, so why are we going to chase this?’ Why would I not fight Fury to fight you?”
Franklin: “It was way before the Fury fight. You didn’t even have the Fury fight back then.”
Whyte: “I was fighting top guys back then. I’ve been fighting 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 was going on in the negotiations. We’ve got people above us.”
Whyte: “You don’t sound like a real clever guy. You’re probably a good fighter, but you don’t sound very intelligent.”
Franklin: “You can put it whatever way you want to put it. You’ve got people above you that make decisions too.”
Whyte: “There’s nobody over me. I do my own s**t. There’s no one.”
Franklin: “Like I say, I was pushing for the fight, and he said that I wasn’t relevant.”
Hearn: “Do you think he made a mistake in choosing you? This is what we do. We fight. I don’t think nobody is making a mistake.”
Whyte: “You said I was making a mistake a few weeks ago. You said that you were going to knock me out.”
Franklin: “That’s what I’m coming to do. I’m coming there to put you on your a**.”
Whyte: “I’m about to punch those dreads off your head, man.”
Franklin: “We going to see.”
Whyte: “There are many sides to me. You’re going to see.”
Franklin: “I like that like of talk. You’re saying that like I’m not bothered by that s**t?”
Whyte: “I want you to be bothered. I hate scary guys.”
Franklin: “You a man just like I’ma man. We bleed the same way.”
Whyte: “Yeah, of course.”
Hearn: “One thing we know about Dillian Whyte is every fight is maximum violence. Every fight is a thrilling fight. How deep do you expect to go? Do you expect to be able to fight fire with him in that department?”
Franklin: “Yeah, I’m always prepared to fight fire with fire. I’m always prepared to dig deep. That’s what we train for. We’re professionals. That’s what we do. If you’re at this level and you feel you can’t dig something deep, this isn’t what you need to be doing. Like I said, we’re warriors, and warriors are going to do the best of their ability.”
Hearn: “There’s always a danger when a fighter steps up to a big occasion. A big crowd, a big level of opposition, a big moment, and they don’t step up to take that opportunity.”
Franklin: “It’s only us two in the ring. I don’t give a s**t about the crowds, the people, and the arenas. When we’re in the ring, it’s just us two fighting. The crowds not fighting for us, the announcers not fighting for us, and my promoters not fighting for us.”
Whyte: “This is London. Welcome to London. You’re going to hear my people roaring.”
Franklin: “I’ve heard them. That s**t doesn’t affect me.”
Whyte: “You’re going to hear them roaring. You’re going to hear my people.”
Franklin: “I like how passionate the fans are out here.”
Whyte: “You’re going to hear my people.”
Franklin: “It’s a fight. I don’t give a f**k about people yelling & screaming. I don’t give a f**k about that. We’re here to fight. That s**t doesn’t affect me.”
Hearn: “Do you rate his power? Do you think you can stand up to his power?”
Franklin: “Yeah, I think I can stand up to anyone’s power. I’m not taking anything from him. He’s a great fighter. He’s got a hell of a resume, but like I say, he’s a man just like I am. I can stand in there with the best of them.
Hearn: “Dillian, one-punch knockout power. Do you got to be careful in there? This guy.”
Whyte: “You need a cup of tea. This guy hasn’t knocked out anyone with a winning record. He struggled to go the distance with Jerry Forrest. I don’t remember his name. He’s 60 years old, and he’s going the distance with these kinds of guys.
“I carry power in both hands. Obviously, we’re not going to go and look for it. He’s saying it now, but let’s look for when the bell goes. I can knock him out to the head and the body. One punch, and he might even fall over. I don’t have to connect properly. I know I got power. I got speed and power.
“When I decide to use it and put it together, it’s a problem. I carry the power to knock anyone out on this planet. Anyone that I touch at some point and they’re always showing signs of being touched. If they haven’t been knocked out or knocked down, they’re always showing signs of being touched. Even in the fights I lost, they still got touched.”
