“I had a lot of people who were trying to hold my career back and hold me down. I had to wake up and realise what was going on.
“Now I’m just trying to move forward with (promoter) Dmitriy (Salita), trying to make things work and get back out there. Things are going good so far.”
Following Dillian Whyte’s rematch victory over Alexander Povetkin last summer, Franklin was mentioned as a possible opponent for the Body Snatcher.
Jermaine Franklin was mentioned by Whyte as a possible opponent, but nothing came of it as the Brit focused on a long-awaited title fight against Tyson Fury in April.
Franklin’s mental focus and desire were tested as much as his ability to stay physically prepared, in some ways symbolising a long and frustrating hiatus from the ring.
“It’s hard to just train every day. Being boxers and athletes, we train a lot and train a lot to not even get fights sometimes, so if you’re just in training in the gym for year after year, after a while you start to lose your motivation,” Franklin admitted.
“I lost my motivation for a while, I’m not going to lie and say I just had it the whole time. I had spots where I felt like I needs to be in the gym and spots where I felt I need to work on other stuff. I didn’t leave the gym for too long, but I would be in and out of the gym.
“I kind of took it personally [when the fight with Whyte fell through], but I didn’t take it too personally because I understand how the business works.”
“I believe that’s the case and that I can prove that. I’m going to prove it in the ring.”
He considers himself America’s most exciting heavyweight contender after one bout back and with promoter Dmitriy Salita plotting his next move.
Salita confesses that Whyte “pulled the plug” on a bout with Franklin after his effort to dethrone Fury from the WBC heavyweight title ended in a sixth-round knockout loss at Wembley.
Franklin had been likened to Whyte and was even sought out by Alexander Povetkin’s team as a perfect sparring partner for the Russian, but his travel plans were thwarted by the coronavirus outbreak.
However, with uncertainty remaining in the heavyweight division, Franklin’s camp sees an opening.
“It was very close [to a fight with Dillian Whyte being agreed],” said Salita.
“Even though Jermaine, at that point, had been out of the ring for some time, it just goes to show with him – if you look at his record he has fought so many undefeated fighters coming up, which is really unusual for a prospect.
“Jermaine was training and ready to hand Dillian Whyte that loss, but Tyson Fury beat him to the punch. Jermaine is back in the rotation and he would welcome that fight on again.”
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