Jermaine Franklin’s lifestyle changes since his last fight resulted in a steep drop in weight when the heavyweight contender stepped on the British Boxing Board of Control’s scale Friday afternoon in London.
Franklin came in at 234¾ pounds for his 12-round, non-title fight against Anthony Joshua on Saturday night at O2 Arena in London. The Saginaw, Michigan native weighed 22¼ pounds less than he was the day before he fought Dillian Whyte just four months ago (257).
Joshua officially weighed 255 pounds soon after Franklin got off the scale. The 33-year-old former IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO champion looked chiseled, but he was 10½ pounds heavier than he was for his rematch against Oleksandr Usyk seven months ago (244½).
The 29-year-old Franklin (21-1, 14 KOs) tested Whyte in their 12-rounder, but Whyte won a majority decision November 26 at OVO Arena Wembley in London. One judge, Michael Alexander, scored Whyte-Franklin a draw (115-115), but judges Juergen Langos and Grzegorz Molenda both scored London’s Whyte (29-3, 19 KOs) a 116-112 winner over Franklin.
Joshua (24-3, 22 KOs) lost a split decision to Ukraine’s Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs) on August 20 at Jeddah Superdome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The 2012 Olympic gold medalist has lost back-to-back 12-round decisions to Usyk, who upset Joshua unanimously to win the IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO championships in September 2021 at Tottenham, Hotspur Stadium in London.
The official weights for the undercard fights DAZN will stream worldwide before Joshua faces Franklin are listed below.
DAZN
7 p.m. BST; 2 p.m. EDT
Fabio Wardley (15-0, 14 KOs), Ipswich, England, 242.6 pounds vs. Michael Coffie (13-3, 10 KOs), Kissimmee, Florida, 269.4 pounds, 10 rounds, heavyweights.
Galal Yafai (3-0, 2 KOs), Birmingham, England, 113.8 pounds vs. Moises Calleros (36-10-1, 19 KOs), Monterrey, Mexico, 114.6 pounds, 10 rounds, super flyweights.
Campbell Hatton (10-0, 3 KOs), Hyde, England, 139.12 pounds vs. Louis Fielding (10-7, 1 KO), Tamworth, England, 138.6 pounds, 8 rounds, junior welterweights.
Austin Williams (13-0, 9 KOs), Milwaukee, 162.8 pounds vs. River Wilson-Bent (14-2-1, 6 KOs), Coventry, England, 162.7 pounds, 10 rounds, super middleweights.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.