In the early morning of November 27, Beijing time, at Wembley Stadium in London, England, former WBC heavyweight transitional champion Dillian White fought hard for 12 rounds and defeated American fighter Jermaine Franklin with 115-114, 116-112 and 116-112.
To be fair, this score is a black whistle, because White at least did not win, and a draw or White's loss is a reasonable and objective result. It was clear that the scoring referee had stolen Franklin's victory. The only goal is to complete White's rematch with Joshua next summer.
The game was fierce, and White stepped up his defense this time to avoid the end of the last knockout. Of course, he is also aggressive, American Franklin has a pre-match record of 21 wins and 14 knockouts, and his arm span is similar to White, but he is slightly shorter than 5 centimeters.
Franklin fought bravely and dared to confront White. The scores of the two alternately went up.
The fight was very hot and intense, and the two strong men gave the fans a wonderful fight, but they both lacked the ability to hammer the hammer and did not show a knockout. It was only near the end of the 12th round that Franklin was nearly knocked out due to physical exhaustion, and it was too late for White to exert his strength, and the bell for the end of the 12th round rang.
In the end, White and Franklin played the whole game, and the referee decided that White would win. It was an unreasonable and unfair verdict and the black whistle at home in England was clear. Third-party media gave a score of 114-114, which is the objective result. At the very least, White didn't win.
But White's popularity and market appeal are clearly stronger than Franklin's, and in order to rematch Joshua, he must win.
In December 2015, Joshua had a brutal knockout of White in 7 rounds, when Joshua was not too famous and was not a world boxing title. White's left-handed swing also hit Joshua hard in that fight, nearly knocking him out.
Now that Joshua has fallen to Pingyang, he does not dare to fight strong anymore, and can only choose White, who is more famous than his strength, to regain his confidence. So Franklin fell victim to commercial interests.
Joshua sat in the audience today and carefully watched the match between White and Franklin, and the two had already agreed to play a game next summer. Now White's strength is standard second-rate, and it cannot be Joshua's opponent. It was at best a race to regain Joshua's confidence and no more value. Let's see what happens next. 【Text/Fighting Rivers and Lakes】