Dillian Whyte still a major player on heavyweight scene – but Brixton fighter’s display against Jermaine Franklin leaves question marks

BY RICHARD CAWLEY
richard@slpmedia.co.uk

Dillian Whyte ensured he is still a significant part of the heavyweight landscape after overcoming Jermaine Franklin on Saturday night but produced a performance which threw up more questions than answers.

Matchroom Boxing supremo Eddie Hearn’s plan seemed to be for the Brixton puncher to win impressively against unbeaten American Jermaine Franklin at Wembley Arena and fully whet the appetite for a lucrative rematch with Anthony Joshua in 2023.

Whyte did pick up a 29th career victory, but failed to dazzle. Two judges scored the 12-rounder 116-112 in his favour but the other marked it a draw, 115-115.

The South Londoner lacked a spark and Franklin, a 7/1 underdog, wobbled him towards the end of the ninth. Whyte recovered and very nearly scored a 12th-round knockdown, but it was a disjointed first display under new trainer Buddy McGirt.

Back-to-back losses for Whyte, after being knocked out in the sixth round by WBC world champion Tyson Fury at Wembley Stadium in April, would not only have wrecked plans to meet Joshua but also left a huge rebuilding job, assuming ‘The Bodysnatcher’ had the appetite to continue.

The Franklin fight was tight and nervy. Bermondsey’s former two-weight world champion David Haye, who held the WBA heavyweight title, had it 115-115 going into the final round.

Both Haye and trainer Andy Lee, providing analysis for broadcaster DAZN, had contrasting views about Whyte’s status in the division.

Asked if Whyte was still an elite heavyweight, Haye said: “Yes. I just think he had a bad performance tonight. He won the fight and it was significantly better than his last performance – he was fighting the heavyweight champion of the world [Fury] and came unstuck.

“He has come back down to fringe world level. This guy would’ve given a lot of people problems but if you put the heat on Franklin then I believe a bigger heavyweight could grind him down.

“Dillian decided to have a boxing match and he won a very close points decision. A lot of the rounds were quite close and messy. Dillian was throwing little tappy shots and Franklin was throwing flashy shots but not really doing any damage.

“It wasn’t prime Dillian Whyte. He was fighting a tricky customer who came to win and had a solid chin. When it counted in the championship rounds, that was when Dillian started to put his foot down.

“If I was him, I’d have wanted to win covincingly. I’d have put more energy into trying to grind him down. Dillian seemed as if he just wanted to get the win, to make sure he got that and not try anything stupid.

“He was practising a cross-arm defence, which I haven’t seen before, and throwing lead left hooks to the body. He was following Buddy McGirt’s instructions – staying behind the jab. I would have tried to get inside and rough Franklin up.

“In the next one, when he reviews this fight, he may change how he does things. There is lots of stuff I’ve seen him do in other fights that he wasn’t doing in this one. Only he and Buddy know why that is.”

Irishman Lee, who has trained heavyweight rival Joseph Parker, said: “He is still a huge name in the division and in the world of boxing – he’s still elite, in that sense.

“He’s still dangerous to anybody and still carries a threat to anybody. All those top guys will try and fight him now because he has got all that pedigree, name and recognition but he’s not the fighter he once was – that’s being brutally honest.

“I’d love to see Dillian Whyte prove me wrong and win a world title eventually because he deserves that after fighting the best. But sometimes boxing doesn’t end with a fairytale. It’s a tough sport and it doesn’t always go that way, that you get what you deserve.”

Whyte’s first of three losses in the professional ranks came at the hands of Joshua in 2015.

Both were up-and-coming prospects with Joshua retaining the Commonwealth title and also claiming the vacant British belt.

Whyte became the first to hurt Joshua, who had cut a swathe through a raft of domestic fighters, but the Olympian roared back to knock him out in the seventh round at Greenwich’s 02 Arena.

Joshua was ringside last weekend and had a brief exchange with Whyte, the pair bumping fists once the verdict was announced.

“I’ve never scored fights,” said Joshua. “I’ve never been in that business. The judges scored the fight and they had Dillian winning. It was a good, competitive 12 rounds for both.

“With the power and experience that Dillian has got – and all the other stuff – then if I was a trainer I’d expect my fighter to knock someone like Jermaine Franklin out, with all due respect.

“Let’s be honest, Jermaine Franklin wasn’t there to give Dillian any problems. So that’s the time to put on a spectacular performance – bang, bang, bang. [To say] I’m back on the scene. I ain’t messing about. My passion, powers and skills are still there – that’s the type of fight that Dillian wanted. It was difficult. Jermaine Franklin made it tougher than that.”

One of the selling points before their last meeting was that Whyte had beaten Joshua, who went on to win the WBA, IBF and WBO world titles, in the amateur game.

Asked about the benefit of facing Whyte again, Joshua said: “It’s just another body. I don’t look at them as Dillian or who’s who – I just look at them as bodies.

“Whoever is in front of me, you know I’m going to fight with my heart on my sleeve. Pure passion and rage – give it my best shot. I’ve always been that way. There’s a lot of people queuing up to fight me, so it won’t be hard to find an opponent.”

Whyte’s victory keeps him in the conversation.

“The fight wasn’t close,” he said. “I could’ve gone out, slugged and had a 50-50 trade-off – but what is the point when I can pick him apart?

“I’m a fighter and I know how to win. I find a way to win. We’re trying to upgrade the style. I probably could’ve been a bit more active and let off my big shots but I’m coming from a defeat and a new coach – I’ve got to listen sometimes and believe in my coach.”

PICTURES: MARK ROBINSON/MATCHROOM BOXING