Dillian Whyte vs Jermaine Franklin – Results & Post-Fight Report

Dillian Whyte returned to the ring on Saturday evening, but looked fortunate to take a majority decision win against Jermaine Franklin at the OVO Arena, Wembley.

Whyte was once again looking to climb the heavyweight ladder, after finally receiving a long overdue WBC title shot in April, where he was halted in six by Tyson Fury at Wembley Stadium. Franklin had built an unbeaten record with largely unspectacular names on his ledger, and Whyte needed to do a job in order to get back into title contention.

It was a cautious opening round from both for this heavyweight twelve rounder, that Franklin possibly edged, and the American worked well on the counter to more than hold his own in round two. Whyte went to the body in the third, but the visitor was unperturbed, going about his work to take rounds. Franklin certainly wasn’t overawed, and it looked like he was in a handy lead as the fight passed the halfway mark.

Whyte closed the gap in the later rounds, landing a big right hand at the end of the tenth, and having the better of the action, and as the bout came to close, a sustained attack in the final round nearly had Franklin on the verge of being stopped.

The contest went to the scorecards, where one tally of 115-115 overruled by two scores of 116-112, which looked too wide, and Whyte was declared the victor.

Fabio Wardley (15-0, KO14) took the vacant British heavyweight title, as he stopped Nathan Gorman (19-2, KO13) in the third round of their meeting. Gorman hurt Wardley with a left hand in the second, and Wardley’s response was to attack, and a chopping right hand dropped Gorman. Gorman was down again in the same round, and after being floored once more in the third, his corner had seen enough, and threw the towel in for their man, crowning Wardley as the new champion.

Sandy Ryan (5-1, KO2) defended her WBC International super lightweight title with a wide points win over former world champion Anahi Ester Sanchez (21-6, KO13). Scores of 100-90, 99-91 and 98-92 scored another eye catching win for the Derby native.

Pat McCormack (3-0, KO2) was forced to go the distance for the first time as a professional, taking a six round points win at welterweight against Christian Nicolas Andino (16-6-2, KO2). McCormack ran out a 60-54 winner.

Cheavon Clarke (4-0, KO4) impressed again, and the cruiserweight halted Jose Gregorio Ulrich (17-6, KO6) in the second round of their bout set for eight. Ulrich was down in the opening round.

Mark Dickinson (4-0, KO1) extended his unbeaten record, taking a 59-56 points win over six against Gideon Onyenani (4-3, KO0) at middleweight.

Thomas Carty (4-0, KO3) dropped Pavlo Krolenko (3-10-1, KO2) twice in the fifth of their heavyweight sixth rounder, and got the stoppage in the same frame.

George Liddard (1-0, KO1) made his pro debut, and the Essex based middleweight stopped Nikola Matic (18-51, KO12) in the second round of their scheduled four rounder. The Bosnian was down in each of the first two rounds.