Jermaine "The Wildcat" Franklin Jr.

Maybe the second most interesting US heavyweight prospect under the age of 30, after Trevor Bryan. Franklin is 13-0 (11), stands two inches over six foot, and had a very respectable amateur run including a national GG title in a Finals rematch in 2014 with Cam F. Awesome, who is himself the last person to defeat Jermaine, all the way back in May of 2013, a full two years before Franklin turned professional.

He sees action tomorrow versus Tyrell "Juice" Wright, currently 9-0-2 (6), in an eight-rounder headlining a small hall show in DC. Wright is coming off a six round split draw in April with Daniel Pasciolla, then 9-2-2, a common opponent whom Franklin kayoed in six a few months later, in August, in his own most recent outing.

This will be the fourth time Franklin has fought a fellow unbeaten prospect (not counting debutantes), having previously knocked out 2-0 Willie Jake Jr. and 3-0 Wesley Triplett and dropping & shutting out 5-0 Nicholas Thompson. Wright still isn't his biggest step up to date, however - despite being a nice opponent selection for this stage of Franklin's career. The big eyebrow-raising step up already came in July, when he took on 16-2 Akhror Muralimov, a powerful Uzbek who knocked Ola Duradola out in 2012. Franklin beat Muralimov by wide UD (wider than Derric Rossy managed, but failing to stop Muralimov as Jarrell Miller did on ShoBox).

It will be nice if JFJ can maintain and hopefully gradually improve upon this level of competition, and not backslide or stagnate like so many prospects. I don't mind if he doesn't fight another Muralimov until late 2018, but I'd like to see him put the Pasciollas of the world in the rearview mirror.

...or who knows, it could be the lesser known and relatively unheralded Wright emerging with his zero intact here. In that case, we shall have to see how well his development continues as we track his progress toward contention. (and of course losing a "somebody's 0 must go" match-up doesn't mean necessarily that Franklin couldn't rebuild and later go on to do something...nor does it mean that for Wright if he loses)

Jermaine Franklin vs. Craig Lewis (amateurs):

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Jermaine Franklin vs. Cam Awesome II (amateurs):

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Jermaine Franklin vs. Daniel Adotey Allotey:

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Tyrell Wright vs. Daniel Pasciolla:

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Yup. Got a lot going for him to my eye (and given the communal lack of big quality opponents faced by any of these guys so far, the eye test is really all we have to go by). He's physically very strong and yet light on his feet, actually pretty damn slick & fluid considering how stout & tall he is.

 

Not very fast, though. Hopefully when push comes to shove he is able to beat speed with timing (because he will inevitably end up facing somebody with speed that is superior to his own)

 

That would be great to see and if he thrashes Wright impressively his people should feel pretty confident with such a gambit (especially with the previous big risk having paid off, against Muralimov)

 

I'd like to see him in the next year or so take on somebody like Trevor Bryan, or Lenroy Thomas (glass cannon Jamaican based in Florida, who just went across the pond and beat Dave Allen for the Commonwealth title in May and is set to rematch him ten days from now...and not to be confused with Lenroy Thompson, which is the real name of Franklin's old amateur rival Cam F. Awesome, who as of now unfortunately claims he doesn't plan on turning pro)

 

Oh, and just as Lenroy Thomas is somehow not to be confused with Lenroy Thompson, our 6'2" and stoutly built African-American homegrown US prospect from the Midwest (in this case Michigan) with a high KO rate and ranked in the 95th percentile of heavyweights domestically and who boasts an early KO win over Ghanaian southpaw Daniel Allotey, Jermaine Franklin, is, somehow, not to be confused with Franklin Lawrence, a 6'2" and stoutly built African-American homegrown US prospect from the Midwest (in this case Indiana) with a high KO rate who for many years was ranked in the 95th percentile of heavyweights domestically and who boasts an early KO win over Ghanaian southpaw Daniel Allotey.

Lawrence has now been inactive for one year and one month (since his shutout loss to Andy Ruiz Jr., which snapped his six year unbeaten streak dating to another wide 10-round decision loss, to Oliver McCall in 2009, snapping a three year unbeaten streak dating to a TKO1 loss to Bermane Stiverne when Lawrence injured his arm punching and could not continue) - and being 42 years old can probably be presumed retired. Who knows, though? Fate decided there should be a number of eerie coincidences between Jermaine and Mr. Lawrence - so maybe a battle for outright Franklin supremacy, luring the older gentleman into the ring with the lad half of his age (one last shot at turbo-boosting his career for the former; a solid "name" to add to Muralimov to cannibalize and use to springboard to bigger things for the latter), is simply kismet.

 

Curiously, two other young undefeated American heavyweight prospects are in action tomorrow night, on the same card no less. Darmani Rock and Hasim Rahman Jr., 8-0 (5) and 2-0 (2) respectively, share a bill in North Carolina.

Neither the DC nor the NC shows will be televised, sadly. I hope footage (even from a fan's cell phone) of all three fighters does end up getting uploaded.

 

didn't even think of that.

 

Can't hunt down results anywhere...

 

Franklin UD8 Wright. No scores or video yet.