By Willie Ellison

“Faith In God Heals Troubled Souls.” No, that’s not the opening line to a Sunday morning sermon; it’s an acronym for a local boxing club, a boxing club that’s on a mission. F.I.G.H.T.S Boxing Club is in the midst of its thirteenth year in existence, and the program appears to be getting stronger every year.

Club founder Ian Franklin, who’s had a semi-successful boxing career, started the club in his garage with a few interested youngsters. With no budget, he and his partner, Darryl Thompson, stuck it out and eventually linked up with Ecclesia Christian Fellowship Church and things started to pick up. Still with no budget, but a facility, they were able to put the plan for FIGHTS Boxing Club in motion.

The club now services 15-20 kids, with three of the young fighters being ranked nationally, and one in the professional ranks. According to Franklin the three ranked fighters have a bright career ahead of them, and they have some very important boxing events scheduled in the very near future.

As far as his professional fighter, things are going extremely well. His pro fighter is his son, Malcolm “Fast Hands” Franklin, who is currently 2-0 in his young boxing career. The younger Franklin is looking to extend his record to 3-0 when he takes on Walter Mechor in a four-round bout scheduled for Friday, August 20, at the Omega Products Center in Corona. The fight is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., at 1681 California Street in Corona

Mechor is a last-minute replacement for young Franklin; the fighter he was scheduled to fight had to pull out at the last minute due to a family emergency.

Often, when a fighter is given a different opponent at the last minute, it can affect his training program, but Fast Hands Franklin is not too much worried about the last minute switch.

“I’m ready. We had a great camp; I’m focused, now it’s just time to go out and do what we do. Work hard, give it our all, and get some positive results,” said the younger Franklin.

Franklin’s first two fights were won by decision, but don’t think for a minute that he doesn’t have power or knockout potential. The fact that the fights went the distance proves that he is in good enough shape to go the distance, and he proved in his first fight that he can take a punch and recover from adversity.

In his debut fight against Alejandro Salorrio, Franklin suffered a broken jaw in the first round. He never panicked; he just regrouped, regained his composure and went on to dominate the fight and won by a unanimous decision. In his second fight against Lundwin Mondragon, Franklin was even more impressive by dominating the fight from the opening bell.

After five weeks of camp Franklin is confident, focused and ready. The last-minute change of his opponent didn’t affect his game plan at all.

“He’s ready,” said his dad and trainer Ian. “Malcolm has fought at the highest level, so he makes adjustments during the fight at any time without having to be told,” said the elder Franklin. “He is a true professional, so the new opponent is not a major factor. Malcolm knows what he has to do. He’ll make the proper adjustments and he’ll be fine,” he added.

This is the elder Franklin’s first time training his son as a professional fighter. During his first two fights Fast Hands was trained by a couple of trainers who have celebrity status in boxing circles. In his first fight he was trained by John David Jackson, who won world titles as a boxer in 1988 and 1993. As a trainer Jackson trains world champion Bernard Hopkins. In his second fight Franklin was trained by Willie (Bird) Jensen. Although he has no world titles on his resume, Jensen was a contender who fought for a title twice. Now in his third fight the younger Franklin will be trained by his dad. Kind of like another world champion who calls the Inland Empire home.

“It was a great experience working with trainers of their caliber, but I feel more comfortable with my dad training me. It just feels like a more natural fit, and he can push me to my full potential,” said the younger Franklin. “I feel my performance is always better when my dad trains me” he added.

The father-son combination is very reminiscent of the former Shane and Jack Mosley duo. Sugar Shane, the pride of Pomona, was trained by his father Jack and they won a number of titles together before Shane decided to spread his wings. Not only is the Franklin duo somewhat similar, but they are destined to have similar success. Franklin is often compared to Mosley because of his speed, heart, and toughness.

Franklin, the fly weight sensation, can do it all. He has speed, power and ring savvy. He has the ability to box or brawl and the common sense to know when to do it. As an amateur fighter Franklin has been around the world and fought some of the best amateurs from around the world, and he ended his amateur career with an undefeated record, the same way his professional life has been going, and he plans to keep it that way.

As an amateur Franklin won the 2004 Junior National Golden Gloves Title, 2004 Ringside World Champion, 2005 Ringside World Champion, 2005 National PAL Champion and 2008 U.S. Olympic Boxing Team. That’s a very impressive amateur record. One that would give people in the fight game every reason to think this young man from the Inland Empire is the next big thing.

Even with Franklin’s professional career being only two fights old the FIGHT Boxing Club has attracted the attention of a few potential investors and promoters. However, at this time everyone involved in Franklin’s camp are taking their time making sure they make the right decision.

“You need to have backing to make it in the fight business, but we have to be very selective with who we deal with. We stand for something very special and we want to make sure the people we do business with understand that we can’t compromise what we stand for,” said the elder Franklin.

Malcolm “Fast Hands” Franklin is sure to put on a show in front of the local crowd, giving his hometown fans a chance to see the next “BIG THING” from the Inland Empire.