Jermaine Franklin felt he couldn’t turn down his biggest challenge, literally and figuratively, since his loss to Anthony Joshua in April 2023.

Returning from a 15-month layoff against an undefeated, 6-foot-9 puncher isn’t ideal. The exposure of facing Ivan Dychko on the Canelo Alvarez-Terence Crawford undercard should make that risk well worthwhile, however. Franklin and Dychko will fight on the YouTube portion of the show, which is set for Sept. 13 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

Dychko (15-0, 14 KOs) has knocked out 93 percent of his opponents as a professional. Franklin (23-2, 15 KOs), of Saginaw, Michigan, isn't that kind of puncher, but Dmitriy Salita, Franklin’s promoter, sees flaws in Dychko that the skillful Franklin can expose.

“Ivan Dychko is a talented fighter,” Salita told The Ring. “He can box. Based on what I’ve seen with him, if you give him distance and you allow him to dictate the pace, then his power and his skills usually prevail. But if you put pressure on him and are kind of physical with him, he kind of folds and doesn’t react well.

“And you’ve seen that since he was an amateur. Although he has some great wins, he also has some explosive losses as well. He’s a very good fighter, but if Jermaine shows up at his best, I believe he has the skills to beat Dychko. What a great fight, by the way.”

Facing Franklin, 31, is a step up in competition for Dychko, a decorated amateur whose pro record has been built against a low level of opposition since he debuted in September 2017. Dychko stopped onetime contender Aleksandr Ustinov in the first round in December 2021, but Ustinov was knocked out in the first round of his previous bout and four times overall before he faced Dychko.

The 6-foot-2 Franklin has been beaten only by Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs), a former unified heavyweight champion, and two-time championship challenger Dillian Whyte (31-4, 21 KOs). He lost those two 12-round bouts on points, so Salita expects Franklin to withstand Dychko’s power in their 10-rounder.

Dychko has won twice since Franklin’s last fight, a technical knockout of faded 2004 U.S. Olympian Devin Vargas (22-11, 9 KOs) after six one-sided rounds in May 2024. However, the two-time Olympic bronze medalist from Kazakhstan has logged less than five rounds combined over the past three years.

“I think that if the Jermaine that fought Dillian Whyte shows up, he beats Dychko,” Salita said. “Jermaine has not been as active as I would’ve liked for him to be, but he does stay in the gym, and he is taking this fight seriously.

"Even though the fight was announced [Tuesday], it’s been done for a month or so. He’s been training, and he’s gonna come in, I believe, in good condition.”