By Ryan Maquiñana
Former amateur standout John “Fast-Hanz” Franklin (1-0, 1 KO) of Kansas City, Mo., the 2011 USA Boxing flyweight national champion, sat down with BoxingScene.com before his second pro bout this Friday at Denver’s EXDO Event Center.
The Army sergeant-turned-junior featherweight prospect takes on late replacement Johnell Lowery-Paltrow, a Washington, D.C., native who will be making his pro debut. Franklin, a seven-time Armed Forces champion, will have no time to rest after this bout; he is scheduled to appear just two weeks later in Columbus, Ga., against Leshaun Blair (4-26).
BoxingScene.com: You were all set to fight Alejandro Castillo, and like many fighters in their early career, you now get to experience an opponent pulling out and being replaced with someone else last-minute. What do you know about Johnell Lowery-Paltrow?
John Franklin: I don’t know nothing at all about him. Originally it was Castillo, but he pulled out. Either way, I’m ready. I’ve been sparring Shawn Simpson and Rau’shee Warren and the rest of the guys at the Olympic Training Center.
My corner told me that if I didn’t knock my guy out in the first round last time, that these guys wouldn’t have been as hesitant to put their fighters in with me. I guess that would make it a little easier to get a fight, but what can you do?
BoxingScene.com: That’s in Colorado Springs. Have the recent fires over there affected your camp?
John Franklin: A little. The wildfires have been outside, and they evaluated it being about 20 minutes away. I’ve been doing a lot of training indoors for this camp. But like I said, I’m ready. My usual head coach, Basheer Abdullah, is now the head coach for the Olympic Team, but he works with Joe Guzman, and he’s done a great job helping me prepare since I got to Colorado. Joe will work my corner tomorrow.
BoxingScene.com: After this fight on Friday, you have another one scheduled just two weeks after that. How do you keep yourself from looking past your opponent?
John Franklin: It’s hard not to overlook him, because he’s in his debut, while in my next fight I’m supposed to be fighting a guy with 30 fights. But then again, a lot of guys just come up in the gym, and D.C. is always a tough place for competition. You can’t overlook that, and I won’t overlook him.
BoxingScene.com: What is one thing that you’d like to improve on from your debut now that you’ve gotten your pro career under way?
John Franklin: I’ve really been working on staying sharp and being as technical as I can be. It’s been good coming back here with the top amateurs. Whenever I come back to Colorado, they preach being technically sound. In this case, it’s throwing more combinations off the jab rather than just brawl. I’m going to definitely set my power up for this fight.
BoxingScene.com: You’re still unsigned by a promoter, but there will be some famous faces in the building Friday. Is that on your mind heading into this fight?
John Franklin: I’m excited about this fight. Coach Abdullah is going to get to see me fight in Colorado. [Junior lightweight titleholder] Adrien Broner and Mike Stafford are going to be there to watch me, and they have a championship fight the week after.
With the promoter thing, we have opportunities out there. I have another one on July 28th to show what I can do, but yeah, I have to look good here. Spencer Fearon is coming all the way from England tomorrow, and I definitely want to impress with him there.
I’m predicting to go 2-0 with two knockouts. I just want them to see greatness. That’s my goal. I want people to see that everywhere I go, that they remember my name.
Ryan Maquiñana writes a weekly boxing column for CSNBayArea.com. He is a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the Ratings Panel for Ring Magazine. E-mail him at rmaquinana@gmail.com, check out his blog at Norcalboxing.net, or follow him on Twitter: @RMaq28.
