Jesse Addison insists Jermaine Franklin is ‘stronger, faster and more focused’ than ever, while Lorenzo Reynolds claims the American heavyweight is more conditional than he was against Dillian White.
Franklin – who trained alongside Tyson Fury in the build-up to his bout with Wyatt in November 2022 – will return to the ring on Saturday night to take on Anthony Joshua.
Franklin’s current physique was the talk of the town ahead of his bout with AJ at the O2 Arena – with reports claiming that the 29-year-old lost 28 pounds prior to the biggest fight of his career.
So, with the above in mind, Sportsmail met with coaches Franklin Addison and Reynolds to discuss the dramatic transformation of the American body ahead of Saturday’s game.
We’re really happy with his (Franklin’s) weight,’ Reynolds told Sportsmail. We are pleased with his commitment. We are looking forward to a great fight this Saturday.
Jesse Addison insists Jermaine Franklin is ‘stronger, faster and more focused’ than ever, while Lorenzo Reynolds claims the American heavyweight is more ‘conditional’
Franklin – who trained alongside Tyson Fury in preparation for his bout with Wyatt in November 2022 – will return to the ring on Saturday night to take on Anthony Joshua.
When asked about the secret to his weight loss, Reynolds said, “Time.” He said Franklin had more time to prepare for his fight against Joshua than he did for the November 2022 Wyatt fight.
Reynolds said, “Honestly, we had more time to prepare for the fight. With the Dillian Whyte fight, we only had a few weeks. We tried our best and made no excuses but this time we had more weeks to prepare.”
“This time we went to a good state with a lot of heat in Florida. We took advantage of every training opportunity. We had Jermaine very focused.
We put him on a strict diet. He answered every test we took on him. So we expect him to do a great job on Saturday night’s final exam.
When asked about the components of Franklin’s diet, Reynolds explained how the American heavyweight would “drink juice” in the morning instead of with a meal.
Reynolds said juicing was the secret to his weight loss, and praised the breakfast supplement for providing Franklin with all the vitamins and minerals he needed to get his day off off to a good start.
Reynolds went on to talk about how Franklin’s weight loss helped improve and condition his cardiovascular system.
Reynolds said Franklin lacked fitness before facing White – which he lost 115-115, 116-112 and 116-112 – and insisted he was more prepared before AJ
Franklin will be looking to stop Joshua (above) – who lost his last fight to Oleksandr Usyk
Reynolds said Franklin lacked physical fitness before facing White – which he lost 115-115, 116-112 and 116-112.
However, Franklin’s strength and conditioning coach is confident that the American has “premium gasoline in his tank” this time around.
He told Sportsmail: ‘The Dillian White fight showed us he had a lot of heart. A lot of fighters lack heart but Jermaine showed he had a lot of heart. But the air conditioning was lacking.
So, we went back and made his weakness his strength. We managed to do this, so we are confident in the cardiovascular system. We are confident that if the battle continues, he will have plenty of premium gasoline in his tank.
Reynolds went on to explain how he was beating Franklin in running drills at the start of their camp, but admitted that the 29-year-old now runs around him.
There were concerns that Jermaine’s weight loss might affect his strength. Still, Addison insists, Franklin is “stronger, faster, and more focused” than ever.
When asked if Franklin’s weight loss would affect his strength, Addison said, “Absolutely not.” If anything it has become stronger.
It has become faster and more focused. We feel losing weight will be an advantage for Jermaine against Joshua.
Eddie Hearn also praised Franklin for losing weight and said the American was walking around with a ‘six-pack’.
Eddie Hearn (left) also praised Franklin (right) for losing weight and said the American was walking around with a ‘six-pack’
Team Franklin said they are excited to see the American in action this weekend
You have Jermaine Franklin here, who is about 28 pounds lighter than he was fighting Dillian White.
He now has six pieces and this is what happens when you fight Anthony Joshua. It’s a chance for him (Franklin) to catapult himself into the heavyweight world.
For AJ, there are compression packages. He’s back at the O2. He did not besiege there for seven years. It’s where it all began for his debut and he must win the fight.
I want to see the devastating Anthony Joshua we all love to watch. But Franklin will have a difficult task ahead.
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