Dillian Whyte and Jermaine Franklin face-off ahead of heavyweight clash
Dillian Whyte fights Jermaine Franklin in a heavyweight main event at London’s Wembley Arena tonight.
In April, just a matter of metres away from this evening’s venue, Whyte suffered a heartbreaking knockout loss to Tyson Fury at Wembley Stadium, failing to dethrone the WBC champion in front of 94,000 fans. Now Whyte, 34, looks to bounce back, as the Briton takes on unbeaten American Franklin.
Franklin, 29, has 14 knockouts from his 21 victories as a professional and most recently competed in May, stopping Rodney Moore in the fifth round. Meanwhile, 19 of Whyte’s 28 wins have come via knockout, while his three defeats have come against Fury, Alexander Povetkin and Anthony Joshua – all by stoppage. The “Bodysnatcher” avenged his loss to Povetkin by knocking out the Russian in 2021, and Joshua is “pretty much nailed on” to fight the winner of tonight’s main event, according to Eddie Hearn, who promotes Whyte and “AJ”.
Of a potential rematch with Joshua, however, Whyte said ahead of tonight’s fight: “It’s heavyweight boxing, man, never plan while you’re in a heavyweight fight. Of course I would like that fight, it’s a major fight, but for me it’s about avenging the loss more than anything else. That’s even better to me than a world title to be honest.”
Follow build-up to Whyte vs Franklin, then fight updates and fallout live with our blog below.
Whyte vs Franklin LIVE
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Whyte vs Franklin LIVE
Eddie Hearn, who promotes Whyte and Anthony Joshua, said earlier this month that the winner of tonight’s main event is “pretty much nailed on” to fight “AJ” next.
Hearn told iFL TV: “It’s going to be a massive night. Of course, it’s all about the main event: Dillian Whyte returning to the ring against Jermaine Franklin.
“[Franklin has] a chance to change his life; if Jermaine Franklin beats Dillian Whyte, he’s pretty much nailed on to fight Anthony Joshua and make millions and millions of dollars.”
Turning to Franklin, who was standing beside him, Hearn said: “You do realise that if you win the fight, your bank account will go out of control, don’t you?
“[Whyte] is coming off a defeat, he’s an elite heavyweight. You’re looking to change your life. You have the opportunity.”
Alex Pattle26 November 2022 19:45
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The first main-card fight of the night is in the books!
Mark Dickinson outpoints Gideon Onyenani in a middleweight contest!
Alex Pattle26 November 2022 19:40
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Whyte vs Franklin LIVE
And in the other preliminary fight, Thomas Carty beat Pavlo Krolenko via stoppage:
Alex Pattle26 November 2022 19:37
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Whyte vs Franklin LIVE
In one of tonight’s preliminary bouts, George Liddard stopped Nikola Matic:
Alex Pattle26 November 2022 19:36
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Whyte vs Franklin LIVE
Whyte weighed in just under half-a-stone lighter than Franklin ahead of their showdown tonight.
Here’s all you need to know:
Alex Pattle26 November 2022 19:33
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Whyte vs Franklin LIVE
“Listen, I’m a nobody,” Dillian Whyte says, in one of his first interviews since fighting Tyson Fury for the world heavyweight title in front of a record 94,000 people at London’s Wembley Stadium. The thing is, despite the irony, you get the sense he really means it.
“I’ve far surpassed what I should’ve done in life already,” Whyte says from across a long, ornate table, somewhere in the downstairs maze of a suave Soho hotel. “I still want to achieve more, I’m still hungry, but after a while it becomes more about the people around you than yourself, because… I’m a nobody.”
Whyte is no nobody. The Briton, 34, is one of the most formidable heavyweights of his generation – a berserker who has battled them all and beaten the vast majority. Those in-ring battles almost seem trivial after the war Whyte waged to simply survive in Port Antonio, Jamaica, where he was “dodging bullets” before moving to Brixton and having his first child as a young teenager.
But on an April evening this spring, Whyte was again dodging incoming fire, and there was nothing trivial to him about the moment he finally got caught – a Fury uppercut scything through the London air and his opponent’s guard to put Whyte to sleep yet wake him from his dream.
“These guys put a lot into me and believe in me, fight life-and-death battles for me,” Whyte says of his team. “It was heartbreaking for them. I know for me to win a world title would have changed my life, but for them it would have been something so special.
“Of course I was disappointed; if I lost 10 quid I’d be disappointed! ‘S***, dumb f***, you lost 10 quid!’ That’s the kind of person I am, but I was disappointed for my team more than me, because of what they went through to get me that title fight. S*** had been going on for a long time, the battle we had to fight…”
Read our interview with Whyte ahead of tonight’s fight with Franklin:
Alex Pattle26 November 2022 19:20
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Whyte vs Franklin LIVE
Here are Whyte and Franklin facing off ahead of England vs USA at the World Cup yesterday, with each fighter wearing his nation’s jersey.
Let’s hope tonight’s main event provides more action than that 0-0 draw!
(PA)
Alex Pattle26 November 2022 19:14
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“Dillian Whyte was built to survive. He survived a life of neglect, of violence, of rejection, of shooting, of stabbing, of prison, of wins and savage losses in the ring. He survived and he is still here telling the tale.
“On Saturday, indoors at Wembley, he continues the heavyweight journey he started a decade or so ago when he fights unbeaten American, Jermaine Franklin. It’s another fight for the right to remain a genuine contender; it is one of boxing’s most respected titles, but nobody ever wants to be the loser.
“Whyte lost his last fight when, under a banner of stars and lights outdoors on the pitch, he was knocked out by Tyson Fury in round six of their heavyweight world title fight at Wembley Stadium. It was not the ending that Whyte had dreamed of during the 1,000 days and nights he waited for his opportunity. Tyson was clinical on the night, Whyte looked lethargic. The chilling ending was not easy to predict.
“‘It was bad,’ insisted Whyte. ‘I was bad. But I’m back now.’”
With tonight’s card under way, here’s Steve Bunce on Whyte’s last fight and his next one, which is just a couple of hours away:
Alex Pattle26 November 2022 19:05
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Here’s our report from Whyte’s last fight, that sixth-round knockout loss to Tyson Fury in April, when Whyte failed to dethrone the WBC heavyweight champion.
Alex Pattle26 November 2022 18:56
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Whyte vs Franklin LIVE
Tonight’s main card begins at 7pm GMT. We’ll be providing live results from the undercard, then round-by-round updates of the main event between Whyte and Franklin.
Here’s the evening’s card in full (subject to change):
Dillian Whyte vs Jermaine Franklin (heavyweight) – ring walks expected 11pm GMT
Fabio Wardley vs Nathan Gorman (vacant British heavyweight title)
Pat McCormack vs Christian Nicols Andino (welterweight)
Sandy Ryan vs Anahi Ester Sanchez (women’s super lightweight)
Cheavon Clarke vs Jose Gregorio Ulrich (cruiserweight)
Mark Dickinson vs Gideon Onyenani (middleweight)
George Liddard vs Nikola Matic (middleweight)
Thomas Carty vs Pavio Krolenko (heavyweight)
Alex Pattle26 November 2022 18:45