Dychko vs Franklin Predictions: Ivan’s opposition has been terrible, but Franklin is a step up

Two-time Olympic bronze medalist Ivan Dychko puts his unbeaten record on the line against hard-nosed campaigner Jermaine Franklin this Saturday, September 13. The fight will air live on YouTube as part of the prelims for Netflix’s Saul Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford broadcast. The Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada will play host to the heavyweight contest.

Read on for my Dychko vs Franklin predictions.

Dychko vs Franklin Odds

Dychko is your 8/11 favourite here. Franklin is a live dog at 6/5 and with very good reason. The draw is priced at 14/1.

Dychko vs Franklin Fight Preview

Dychko has twice won Olympic bronze. The Kazakh star has three World Amateur Championships medals; a pair of silvers and a bronze. Dychko has won gold at both the Asian Games and the Asian Championships. He is also 15-0 as a professional with 14 knockouts.

Were Dychko a 25-year-old blinking in the light of a maiden pay-per-view voyage, you would have him pegged as the man to eventually unseat Oleksandr Usyk and usurp his four-jewelled crown atop the heavyweight division. But Dychko is 35, has been a professional for eight years and is preparing to face the first name fighter he has met who was not comedically past their prime.

It had been 15 years since Denis Bakhtov could charitably call himself a fringe contender by the time Dychko splattered him in seconds in 2021. Alexander Ustinov had been knocked out by Kubrat Pulev a decade ago and the likes of Joe Joyce and Michael Hunter more recently. Even the risible Mahmoud Charr had beaten him. Dychko’s win over Ustinov was worthless.

There is yet more rubble through which Dychko has combed for men who barely meet the legal definition of opponent. Remember Ray Austin? The audacious but limited American who Wladimir Klitschko slapped in two rounds of a 2007 world title outing? Well a mere 12 years later, Dychko beat him too! It took him a round longer, by the way. 

Dychko has been rifling through coffins that even Jake Paul would leave buried. He carefully brushed the Mummy dust off Maurice Harris, who was so shop-worn that even the aforementioned Ustinov had beaten him in a round back in 2015. Ridiculously, Harris had not boxed for three years before he was exhumed in 2018. Dychko’s handlers obviously decided to drop “warm” from their adverts asking for a warm body for their man to beat up on.

Dychko was a superb amateur. But the handling of his career since has been risible. The 35-year-old has fought no more than once a year since 2019. The warmed-over derelicts he has faced in his annual outings have all fallen in one or two rounds except Kevin Espindola, a 9-10 journeyman who took the Olympian 10 rounds.

To Espindola’s credit, he did take a 3-0 Moses Itauma the full four rounds a while back. But before you queue up to pat Dychko on the back, Richard Riakporhe knocked ol’ Kevin out in round four of his heavyweight debut, after the Brit moved up from cruiserweight.

What is an unbeaten record really worth? Franklin comes in at 23-2. But those two defeats, a hotly-contested majority points loss to Dillian Whyte and a wide, but hard-fought, decision loss to Anthony Joshua, have done more for his profile than any of Dychko’s 15 victories. The casual boxing fan knows who one of these men is, and it is not the fighter with enough medals to kit out an entire army regiment. 

Boxers resonate with the public when they throw caution to the wind and take on the toughest challenges. Few gave Franklin a chance against the British bruisers and, yes, they both beat him. But the fact he was bitterly unlucky not to get the Whyte decision opened the door for the Joshua fight. When ‘989 Assassin’ showed heart, fire and tenacity against AJ, his bravery earned him another payday here. 

It is a belated one, with a year now separating us from Franklin’s two post-Joshua wins. But if the Michigan man can beat Dychko, the heavyweight-hungry boxing landscape will gobble up more of what he’s cooking. For Dychko, this might be the last supper as a significant factor in the sport.

Dychko vs Franklin Full Card

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Dychko vs Franklin Prediction

Dychko is tall, technical and hits hard. Dychko times his shots well and his rangy jab, bolstered by a 6’9 frame, is adept at dictating the tempo. Marry that to some one-shot pop and this is a fighter capable of ending the night early. 

There is a hole in the Kazakh’s game and that is his tendency to rely on linear head movement to get out of trouble. Studying fight film of the 34-year-old, Dychko is guilty of keeping his head on the rails, jerking straight back when an opponent looks to land. Without some lateral movement, or a greater reliance on his block, someone is going to find this gap sooner or later.

I think we may have arrived at the “sooner” half of that scenario. Franklin makes top class opponents fight for the full distance. This is a scheduled 10-rounder, with Franklin having gone 10 or beyond on seven occasions. Even over 12 against AJ and Whyte, he pushed the Brits all the way.

Dychko is not used to opponents with that sort of recent top-drawer experience. The Kazakh is more accustomed to facing men who still remember the advent of colour television. Dychko has the pedigree, skill and physique trainers dream of. But a morgue-as-bord of woeful foes and more wasted years than a crate of Iron Maiden singles has nixed this once-promising puncher. Franklin to win for me at 6/5.

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