Jermaine Franklin stronger, faster and more focused than ever
Jermaine Franklin's trainers Jesse Addison and Lorenzo Reynolds claim the American heavyweight is more conditioned than he was against Dillian Whyte.
Franklin – who trained alongside Tyson Fury in the build-up to his showdown with Whyte in November 2022 – will return to the ring on Saturday night, April 1, to face Anthony Joshua at the O2 Arena, Greenwich.
The 29-year-old's weight loss has been discussed plenty ahead of his showdown with AJ at the O2 Arena – with reports claiming the 29-year-old has lost a whopping 28lbs ahead of the biggest fight of his career.
Trainer Reynolds told the Sportsmail about the American's dramatic body transformation ahead Saturday's bout, "We are really happy with his [Franklin's] weight. We are happy with his commitment. We are looking forward to an awesome fight this Saturday."
The secret was simply time; Reynolds revealed, "Honestly, we've had more time to prepare for the fight. With the Dillian Whyte fight, we only had a few weeks. We made the best of it and we didn't make any excuses but this time around we had more weeks to prepare.
"This time we went down to a good state that has a lot of heat in Florida. We took advantage of every training opportunity. We had a very focused Jermaine.
"We put him on a strict diet. He answered every test that we gave him. So we are expecting for him to do great on the final exam on Saturday night."
When asked what Franklin's diet consisted of, Reynolds explained how the American heavyweight had been 'juicing' in the mornings instead of having a meal, which has been the main catalyst to his weight loss and praised the breakfast supplement for providing Franklin with all of the vitamins and minerals he needed to get his day off to a good start.
The dramatic weight loss has helped improve the Michigan man's cardiovascular system and conditioning, which Reynolds now believes was lacking during the Whyte fight, which he lost on a mixed decision.
Franklin's strength and conditioning coach is confident that, this time, on his second visit to the UK, the American has 'premium gasoline in his fuel tank', "The Dillian Whyte fight showed us that he has a lot of heart. A lot of fighters lack heart but Jermaine showed that he had a lot of heart. But, the conditioning was lacking.
"So, we went back and we made his weakness his strength. We had time to do that so we are confident in his cardiovascular system. We are confident that if the fight goes the distance, he has a lot of premium gasoline in his fuel tank."
Trainer Jesse Addison confirmed that Franklin is 'stronger, faster and more focused' than ever, 'He's gotten faster and he's more focused. We feel like the weight loss will be an advantage for Jermaine against Joshua. If anything he has gotten stronger.
"You've got Jermaine Franklin here, who is about 28 pounds lighter than he was against Dillian Whyte fight.
"He's now got a six pack and this is what happens when you're fighting Anthony Joshua. It's a chance for him [Franklin] to catapult himself in the world of the heavyweight division.
"For AJ, there is bundles of pressure. He's back at the O2. He hasn't boxed there for seven years. It's where it all started for his debut and it's a must win fight.
"I want to see the destructive Anthony Joshua that we all love to watch. But, Franklin is going to put up a tough task."
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