Jermaine Franklin goes up against Anthony Joshua in the main event at The O2 in London on Saturday, April 1. The pair squares off in the 12-round bout live stream on DAZN. Ahead of the event, a native of Saginaw, Michigan said his goal was to knock British former two-time unified heavyweight champion out.
In his previous outing in November 2022, Franklin (21-1, 14 KOs) made his UK debut at OVO Arena Wembley in London, where he suffered the defeat by majority decision against Dillian Whyte. Joshua (24-3, 22 KOs) last fought in August 2022 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where he suffered the defeat by split decision in the championship rematch against reigning unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs).
“For him, they say his career is on the line. For me, everything is on the line,” said Franklin. “That’s how I treat every fight. I’ve been boxing all my life and I’m not nervous for this. If you get nervous, you’re in the wrong sport.
“They’re probably looking at me like I’m a pushover or a walkover or something like that but they’re going to be in for a rude awakening. A goal of mine is I want to be a unified World Champion. I just want to help boxers. I love the sport and I want to continue to help other fighters grow. I want to give back to the sport what it gave to me.
“The circumstances around this fight are very different. For the Dillian fight I was working a job before we got that phone call. I wasn’t in the gym. We took like 5-7 weeks to get in shape for that fight. For the time I had I did what I could. This time I’ve got more time to prepare and more time to get in shape. We’re doing all we can.
“I showed people what I could do against Dillian. I showed people I can hang up there with some of the best. Dillian is a top 10/top 15 fighter and I showed people what I’m capable of. I don’t feel like I lost. We came home and we worked on stuff. We got better and we perfected our craft. We learned some different techniques and ways to attack.”
“My performance against Dillian most definitely led to this fight. He could have picked anybody that he wanted to but he chose me. Maybe he’s trying to prove to himself that he can do something to me that Dillian couldn’t. Who knows. We don’t play boxing. I’ve come here to wake him and the rest of the world up.
“I feel like I’m winning hands down at the end of the fight. As far as him with the trainers and stuff, I can’t pinpoint on what kind of style he’s going to try to use. We just do our job and prepare for whatever style. Get ready to see a new and improved Jermaine Franklin.
“Fans are going to see me come out and fight way better fight than the Dillian fight. It is time for people to take me seriously. This is my new dawn. It’s my time to make my claim. I want to knock his ass out, that’s the goal.”
Among Joshua vs Franklin undercard bouts, British heavyweight champion Fabio Wardley (15-0, 14 KOs) and American Michael Polite-Coffie (13-3, 10 KOs) battle it out for the vacant WBA Continental title. As well, European middleweight champion from Italy Matteo Signani (32-6-3, 12 KOs) defends his title against former British and Commonwealth champion Felix Cash (16-0, 10 KOs). Plus, Milwaukee, Wisconsin-born Austin Williams (13-0 9 KOs) and River Wilson-Bent (14-2-1, 6 KOs) of Coventry duel in a ten-rounder at middleweight.
In Australia, the event airs live on Sunday, April 2 live on DAZN and Kayo.
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