By: Sean Cross
Dillian Witt will be hoping to return to form on Saturday when he faces undefeated heavyweight Jermaine Franklin in London after being hit by a lapstick from Tyson Fury last spring. Franklin first showed he could hang with long-time rival Whyte, standing in front of the man and protesting. Both men landed well in the second, although Witt seemed to be the more active of the two.
In the third, Franklin appeared to have a significant speed advantage. Moreover, Franklin again began to land effective compounds. In the fourth, Franklin was taking the fight to his famous opponent. While Franklin held on in the fifth game, Whyte landed well and with authority. It also appeared to control the pace of the chapter. What he likes about the Sixth is that it seems to master geography mostly because of its forward motion and patience.
Wyatt used his jab to good effect in the seventh, and was able to work the man over the ropes after that. Franklin worked to enter on the eighth man. He was admonished by the referee for pushing forward as he was not afraid to attack. The ninth round appeared slow, which was not surprising, because this was a battle between two big men. In the final seconds of the episode, however, Franklin actually managed to land on the man again and again.
It looked like Whyte was close to hurting Franklin in the tenth round, but the veteran fighter didn’t seem to have it in him to do any serious damage. The fighters faced each other in the eleventh. It was a fun three minutes. Each man had his moments in a very high octane twelfth and final round, but it was Darling who walked out of the ring with a majority decision win.
