Jermaine Franklin returned home to the U.S. and to the win column.
Back-to-back road trips to the U.K. saw the Saginaw, Michigan native come up short in a valiant effort versus Dillian Whyte and a more lopsided defeat to former two-time unified heavyweight titlist Anthony Joshua. The trip back to his home state saw Franklin earn a lopsided ten-round decision over Mexico’s Isaac Munoz.
Judges Dave DeJonge (100-90), Gerard White (100-90) and Katealia Chambers (99-91) all scored wide for Franklin in their DAZN-aired heavyweight contest Saturday evening from Masonic Temple in Detroit, Michigan.
Franklin entered the fight with a two-fight losing streak though a case was made that he deserved the decision over Whyte last November. Still, he has seen his stock soar and also now land his third fight in just eight months.
The difference in class was evident early. Munoz brought a sparkly record into the ring but versus limited opposition and was clearly the lesser skilled fighter of the two as a late replacement for Junior Wright who withdrew due to undisclosed reasons. Franklin worked behind his jab and consistently landed with his right hand versus a reluctant Munoz, who fought outside of Mexico for the first time.
Franklin was instructed to take the lead since Munoz all but refused to fight back. The regionally based heavyweight heeded the advice and quickly worked his way inside. Munoz was on the defensive after he absorbed left hooks to the body and right hands to the chin.
Munoz’s ability to withstand punishment was put to the test in round three. Franklin cranked a left uppercut to snap back the head of Munoz, who was clipped by a right uppercut. Time was called after a right hand by Franklin reached around Munoz’s fleshy midsection and caught him high above the left butt cheek. Franklin landed right hands upstairs in the final minute of the round.
Franklin went back to the body and drove back Munoz with a right hand. A follow-up sequence upstairs saw Munoz drop his hands and walk away as he made it to the bell. Franklin’s corner urged their charge to just throw to the body and not even bother with the head shots. The advice didn’t take as Franklin continued to launch left hooks and right hands upstairs. Munoz stayed the course and either moved or clinched in lieu of any attempt to offer up any offense.
The same pattern trickled into the second half of the fight. Franklin continued to land clean whenever he let his hands go but failed to commit to a body attack. Munoz shook off right hands upstairs and fought behind a high guard without offering anything of consequence in return.
Munoz broke that trend in round eight, Franklin connected with a check left hook but Munoz came back with a left hook that landed just enough to set up a right hand behind it. Franklin was forced on the defensive for the first time in the fight and was caught later in the round with a right hand. Franklin punched and landed in combination before the bell.
A body shot by Franklin drove Munoz to the ropes in round nine. It saw the fight drift back to the earlier theme, where Munoz would eat punches and not offer anything to slow down Franklin save for a last-second hail mary along the ropes. His approach was enough to go all ten-rounds versus a highly skilled heavyweight contender who has been tested at the top level. It came at the expense of of his unbeaten record as Munoz fells to 17-1-1 (14KOs).
Franklin improved to 22-2 (15KOs) with his first win in 14 months and first victory over an opponent with a winning record since October 2019.
Headlining the show, undisputed junior lightweight champion Alycia Baumgardner (14-1, 7KOs) meets former two-time WBO 140-pound titlist Christina Linardatou. Their bout is a rematch to their July 2018 meeting, won by Linardatou via split decision.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox