Jermaine Franklin proved me wrong. He clearly came to fight tonight against Dillian Whyte in their 12 round contest. While not quite a FOTY candidate, their bout nonetheless proved entertaining. Whyte ultimately prevailed by MD with 116-112 x2 and 115-115 being the scores. I think the former better reflected the fight, but that should not detract from Franklin's performance - which was far better than expected given his three years of inactivity and piror less-than convincing performances vs. gatekeepers Rydell Booker and Jerry Forrest. Franklin arrived about 20-25 lbs overweight - but seemed otherwise well prepared. Neither fighter was able to put together a truly dominant round against the other - with Whyte's 4th round and Franklin's 9th round being the possible exceptions. Whyte failed to land any truly big shots on Franklin until he landed a big left hook on Franklin near the end of the 10th round (which Franklin absorbed) and in the final seconds of the fight he landed a huge shot that sent Franklin tumbling back into the ropes as the bell sounded. In truth, Whyte did land more heavy shots but Franklin took them well while firing off some very crisp-looking combinations and occasionally landing some heavy work of his own. Whyte did manage to swing the fight his way over the final three rounds, imo, but even then Franklin had his moments. You can't help but wonder how this fight might have played out had Franklin dropped that extra weight! A non-dominant win for Whyte, surely, but it looks like he's a good candidate to be fighting Joshua soon. Even if AJ is past his best, Whyte will need to bring a bit more early-round intensity to that fight than he was mustering tonight. As for Franklin, he's done himself no harm at all and has established himself as a fringe contender who should see some good fights in the future.
Jalalov needs to be in with better fighters. He gains nothing by fighting opponents like Harper. Perhaps some of the other avoided heavyweights might be willing to face him - someone like Makhmudov, Hrgovic, Zhang, Bakole or Wallin.
I watched it, German was doing well until he got dropped and then didn't hold onto Wardlwy when hurt. If he was gonna dive why take 3 knockdowns over 2 rounds to do it?
Spot on and on a side note he has a granite chin!! Fringe fighter at best mind like Whyte, Chisora ext
Guy could score some upsets if given the opportunity. He needs to get his weight and conditioning under control though, he's doing no favors to himself coming in heavy
Zhang might be a possibility. I'd be doubtful about the others - particularly Hrgovic who might have an imminent title shot.
Bakhodir Jaolov (12-0, 12 KOs) stopped Curtis Harper (14-9, 9 KOs) in the 4th round of their fight on the Prograis v. Zepeda card. Jalolov was in control from the start and his jab was preventing Harper from getting near enough to do anything useful. Harper dipped into his journeyman's playbook in the 2nd round by rabbit punching Jalolov and hitting off breaks. This earned him a warning from the ref. As the 3rd round began, that soon became the least of his problems, however, as Jalolov concluded that Harper had nothing with which to threaten him and he got much more aggressive. Harper went down near the end of the 3rd round from Jalolov's signature straight left. He got up and was save by the bell. Similar followed at the start of the 4th round and Harper was dropped again. Although he beat the count, the ref waved off the fight. Tough to even guess who Jalolov's next opponent might be. Maybe Mariusz Wach?
Unbeaten USA prospect Jeremiah Milton (7-0, 6 KO) will be returning to the ring on the December 10th Crawford vs. Avanesyan card when he faces Dajuan Calloway (5-1, 5 KOs) in a 6 round fight. This comes just six weeks after he faced and ultimately stopped fellow unbeaten prospect Quintin Sumpter. It was clear that Milton had trouble with Sumpter's mobility during that fight. Thus, the choice of Calloway as an opponent should come as a relief since the 6' 3" Calloway weighed in at 378 lbs (!) for his previous fight in September. Like many of us, Calloway acquired some extra weight during the pandemic - as he typically weighed in at a svelte(r) 315 lbs circa 2019 For the record Calloway's only loss was a UD defeat to still-undefeated prospect Deontae Pettrigrew in 2021. Among Calloway's stoppage conquests, only Kahlil Smoot is recognizable and certainly not much to brag about. Still, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and suggest he might have a bit of power.
Another more detailed review or Jaralov's recent fight. [url]https://www.ringtv.com/646975-bakhodir-jalolov-stops-curtis-harper-in-four-rounds-on-zepeda-prograis-undercard/[/url]
Very nice! Thanks. One thing Harper does have that can be a problem - is his overhand right (just ask Christian Thun!). It's definitely a good sign for Jalolov if he was able to prevent Harper from landing it in close quarters early in the action.
This is the fight we needed years ago. It needs to happen next year. If these two don't face eachother before Wilder hits 39,40 it's will be another black mark on boxing. Fury ducking Usyk will be another. This sport sucks sometimes.
