AN REMARKABLY bizarre turn of events saw Jermaine Franklin Jr, whose performance was pedestrian at best, secure a unanimous decision victory over Ivan Dychko earlier this evening.
Featuring on the undercard of Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford, the two heavyweights trudged through ten unmemorable rounds which, for the most part, were dominated by Dychko, 15-1 (14 KOs).
And yet, rather shockingly, the two-time Olympic bronze medallist was denied a clear-as-day victory against Franklin, 24-2 (15 KOs).
The opening round saw Dychko send a long right hand crashing into the nose of Franklin, before he then replicated the shot just a few moments later.
While creating plenty of distance with his jab, too, the Kazah only continued to control proceedings and, in doing so, kept Franklin on the receiving end of his heavy fists.
As their fight progressed, it was basic but effective from Dychko, whose fundamentals proved strong enough to make for a largely one-sided encounter.
Yet still, while the 35-year-old continued to poke out his lead hand, one could not help but feel that there were ample opportunities for Franklin to capitalise with a counter or two.
Even that much, however, appeared to be far removed from the American’s wheelhouse, which, despite previous displays against Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte suggesting otherwise, seemed to offer very little by way of creativity.
Franklin did begin to deliver a more assertive effort in the middle rounds, though, but even then, none of his attacks came remotely close to troubling Dychko.
Then, after a particularly lacklustre sixth round, Franklin’s trainer gave an even less inspiring response by saying, “The reason he’s landing on you is because you’re falling over.”
Yet somehow, the coach seemed to steer his man away from further embarrassment as Franklin, now with his feet firmly on the canvas, landed an eye-catching right hand in the following round.
The 31-year-old then appeared to wobble his opponent with an overhand right in the eighth frame, just a few moments before Dychko lost a point for leaning his towering frame on Franklin.
Despite his brief success, Franklin did not demonstrate the impetus, nor the engine, to fully exploit his man’s defensive frailties, but nonetheless claimed a set of almost scandalous scores of 96-93, 95-94 and 97-92.
