Dillian Whyte will fight for the first time since losing to Tyson Fury in April when he faces Jermaine Franklin at the OVO Arena, Wembley on November 26.
Whyte was reportedly in talks to face WBA ‘regular’ heavyweight champion, Daniel Dubois but a deal did not materialise and his clash with Franklin will headline a Matchroom Boxing bill live on DAZN.
The Brixton man has fought a significant amount of his career with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom, but moved over to Frank Warren‘s Queensberry to secure his long-awaited shot at the WBC heavyweight championship against Fury just next door at Wembley Stadium.
‘The Body Snatcher’ was stopped in the sixth round in front of a record capacity of 94,000 fans.
The 34-year-old has switched up his training team, relocating to Califronia under the guidance of highly-acclaimed coach, Buddy McGirt.
Franklin, a native of Michigan, is undefeated in his 21 fights, most recently halting Rodney Moore in May and Whyte will represent undoubtedly the toughest test of his career thus far.
The 29-year-old is ranked at 13 with the WBO behind unified WBO, WBA ‘super’ and IBF titlist, Oleksandr Usyk who is likely to face Fury in early 2023, providing ‘The Gypsy King’ overcomes Derek Chisora on December 3.
Whyte holds top 10 rankings in both the WBC and IBF and could be on course for a future rematch with Anthony Joshua, who is signed with DAZN.
‘The Body Snatcher’ also said recently that he would be open to a fight with Joe Joyce, who knocked out Joseph Parker last month.
“Joe Joyce is a good fighter, a strong guy, he takes a lot of punches,” the Whyte told Sky Sports.
“Some of these guys have great chins and then one night it comes and boom just like that [they get caught] and I believe I carry the power to knock out anyone on this planet.
“I’ve just got to land these punches, Joe Joyce is the same.
“I’m a warrior, a fighter, I’m not going to back-up, I’m going to go throw hands and my mindset is warrior mode all the time.
“I always come to fight and always give it my all.”
On the undercard, Fabio Wardley faces Nathan Gorman for the vacant British heavyweight title.
Former world title challenger, Craig Richards clashes with former Ricards Bolotniks, whilst Sandy Ryan challenges Magali Rodriguez for her WBC Silver super lightweight title.
