Onto this weekend and it is AJ v Jermaine Franklin. AJ will KO the guy if he lets his hands go but Franklin was, imo and that of many others, extremely unlucky to lose back in Nov to Whyte via Points, I felt that he outworked the plodding Whyte. However, there are levels for a reason and an average Franklin, who shows heart, will 100% be getting chin checked. It will be a case of when, not if, Franklin topples over. Lastly, can the trolls who'll mention Fury within their opening lines bore off. Not interested. This thread is purely about AJ and Franklin. Cheers.
AJ to KO Franklin in rounds 1 to 4 - Odds are 10/3 - that seems value to me. Whyte made Franklin look better than he was...
Franklin is still very much an unknown, the Whyte fight was the first proper look I've had of him and I agree he was unfortunate to not come away with a draw....think I had Franklin winning by a round but there were a few hard ones to score. A fit healthy sharp AJ would KO Franklin 9 times out of 10 but then again I would've said the same about Okolie Light.
I think after the back of 2 defeats AJ will take the first half of the fight to figure out Franklin, if anything I see it going the same way as AJ's last KO win with it coming between 9-12.
I think Frankin will do better than expected. He a decent boxer and actually moves his head and feet, something that is kryptonite to AJ. Obviously Joshua is a clear favourite but don't be surprised if Franklin nicks a few rounds early.
The Whyte fight was more a steer to how **** Dillian is, not how good Franklin is. AJ in the middle round
Easy fight against very limited opponent and I expect a KO before the end of 6 rounds. Franklin may have looked decent against Whyte, however, Whyte has always been a very mediocre fighter and was totally washed up after the Fury schooling in front of 90,000 fans at Wembley (higher than Froch v Groves) and millions watching on TV around the world. A one sided fight for me with only one outcome.
You wouldn't be surprised?? I know it's heavyweight boxing and all it takes is one punch but what power does Franklin have that makes you think he can knock Joshua out?
Being replaced with Galal Yafai which isn't bad. Maybe that means Cash Williams won't happen in June as was being planned. Yafai has moved really quickly so far. I reckon he could be close to a World Title depending on the opponent by the end of the year / 2024.
This is just well paid sparring. If it goes longer than six it's because Joshua wanted it to. People keep going on about Franklin maybe beating Whyte as though that's some amazing accomplishment. All I took from that fight was him landing solid combinations on Whyte and still being casually walked down at times. If Whyte is doing that it doesn't say much for his chances against Joshua.
