Anthony Joshua vs. Jermaine Franklin | DAZN - April 1, 2023

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Round-by-Round Starts here




Press Release

Former two-time unified heavyweight champion of the world Anthony Joshua (24-3, 22 KOs) fights at The O2 in London for the first time since 2016 as he begins life under the tutelage of new head trainer Derrick James. ‘AJ’ returns to the scene of his first World Title win over Charles Martin to face another American contender in Jermaine Franklin (21-1, 14 KOs). Saginaw’s ‘989 Assassin’ pushed Dillian Whyte all the way in a close points loss at Wembley’s OVO Arena last November and is relishing his shot against one of the biggest names in the sport.

British megastar Joshua is ready to begin his ascent back to the top of the Heavyweight division after suffering back-to-back losses to pound-for-pound great Oleksandr Usyk in London and Saudi Arabia.

This fight will be the first in Joshua’s new five-year partnership with DAZN to be streamed live, exclusive and worldwide on the digital sports entertainment platform, which is fast becoming the undisputed Global Home of Boxing. Joshua vs. Franklin will be included in the £9.99 per month DAZN saver subscription, making it the first fight in over eight years that fans do not need to pay an additional pay-per-view fee to watch Joshua. Beyond the UK, DAZN is available in over 200 territories. Simple to download as an app on Smart TVs, games consoles, tablets and mobiles, and subscribed to with one-click, being on DAZN will make this the most accessible Joshua fight ever.

“I'm looking forward to stepping back into the ring on April 1 at The O2 in London.” said Joshua. “Mentally and physically I feel ready. I want to put on a show and impress my coach as he has high standards. Franklin has a good style and a great attitude, which he has shown in recent fights. This will be my first fight broadcast on DAZN in the UK and it will be globally available on the platform. I want to thank DAZN for supporting both myself and the sport of boxing as a whole. I would also like to thank the team at 258 and Matchroom Boxing.”

“I’m ready to show the world why it’s time for me to take my place at the top of the Heavyweight division,” said Franklin. “Joshua had his time. It’s my time to shock the world! This fight isn’t going to the judge’s card. I will have win number 22 come April 1. That ain’t no April Fool’s joke.”

[Bandog]

Confidence builder?

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Confidence builder?

He can have it.

He’s had two back to back tough defeats.

The rematch was a clean loss, not some stupid SD.

[Gran Hermano]

Franklin beat Whyte so this is a legitimate challenge IMO. Joshua needs to make a statement here.

[gilgamesh]

Franklin beat Whyte so this is a legitimate challenge IMO. Joshua needs to make a statement here.

He didn't though

[Thomastearns]

Great news!

Just what we needed to break the traffic jam in the HW division.

That date might be tempting fate a little but I expect the new improved Anthony Joshua to put on a real professional performance and make a statement to the entire division.

His only worry will be complacency and overconfidence, qualities which have never sat well with any heavyweight before or since Ali.

That's the main problem here.

Joshua might be better off telling himself he's facing a more powerful version of Usyk.

[DrDuke]

Franklin beat Whyte so this is a legitimate challenge IMO. Joshua needs to make a statement here.

Whyte won that. Did more and finished strong. However, after such lackluster bout neither deserved a fight against the cash cow like Joshua.

[Lackeos]

I know that Boxrec people hate on everything, but after Whyte-Franklin, people were saying that Franklin was entitled to an immediate shot at Joshua or a champion. Keep that energy now that the fight is actually getting made. Don't just hate on everything like miserable losers.

[DrDuke]

I know that Boxrec people hate on everything, but after Whyte-Franklin, people were saying that Franklin was entitled to an immediate shot at Joshua or a champion. Keep that energy now that the fight is actually getting made. Don't just hate on everything like miserable losers.

Show that funny guy, who praised Franklin like that after the Whyte bout.

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[Thomastearns]

Franklin outboxed Whyte for most of that fight but just didn't do enough to remove all 'wriggling room' to force the judges to give him the nod.

More or less everyone agreed that the 115 - 115 scorecard was a lot more accurate than those two surprising 116 - 112 cards.

The lack of power and especially the lack of stamina hurt Jermaine Franklin that night.

He's got talent no doubt but this is not a game for the half hearted or half committed.

Those stories never have happy endings.

Besides, Franklin's good, but he's not that good!

If his heart isn't in boxing he'd do well to get out of the game after the AJ fight.

Take the money Jermaine, and do something else with your time.

Otherwise, be prepared to give Anthony Joshua a convincing defeat. You have to accept you won't get any decision in a close fight.

You just won't.

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https://www.youtube.com/live/5K9-sggfFD8?feature=share

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I think AJ has enough to win this.

I think we all see him as vulnerable, he does fight a little differently since his Ruiz loss.. He felt comfortable in there against Pulev for the most part.

[DrDuke]

I think AJ has enough to win this.

I think we all see him as vulnerable, he does fight a little differently since his Ruiz loss.. He felt comfortable in there against Pulev for the most part.

I guess he'll outbox another blob in Franklin the same easily like Ruiz in the rematch.

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"Joshua Could Be Done At World Level If He Loses To Franklin", Says Hearn

“I think it’s a great fight,” said Hearn during a recent interview with Seconds Out. “He had a tremendous fight with Dillian Whyte, showed how good he is. Obviously, AJ is coming off two defeats, a lot of question marks for him. I feel like Franklin will be the guy to tell us where he’s at.”

“I think it’s very difficult at world level and getting to fight for the world championship again," said Hearn when asked what happens if Joshua suffers defeat against Franklin. "I see Franklin as a top 15 guy but if you're gonna fight for the world title, you need to go through people like that. That’s really the pressure. I don’t think it’s a career ender but in terms of positioning yourself for a world title, it will be difficult to come back from.”

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“When I saw him in the Usyk [rematch], I thought, ‘What the heck is he doing?’ I’m laughing,” the American said on The DAZN Boxing Show.

When asked whether he thinks he could have coached Joshua to victory in either fight against Usyk, James added: “Yeah, because I train two left-hand fighters.”

“I really took this job because I feel like I can help him,” he continued. “Everybody feels like they can help him, it’s all about strategies.

“The initial things that you work on are things that are not even physical – you can’t even see it. It’s things that are really small, and you build from there. When you work on one thing in particular, everything blossoms behind that.

“[It’s about] spending time together, listening to him talk, and then filling those spaces that need to be filled.”

James, 51, also coaches world champions and compatriots Errol Spence Jr and Jermell Charlo.

Spence Jr has been training alongside Joshua, said James, who added: “They’re good, they talk. Errol asks him a couple of questions. When Errol is hitting the bag, working out, AJ is watching him. It’s like a mutual respect.

“That’s what most guys need to get to the next level or get that thing back that they had before. Even with Errol, he sees [Joshua] doing some things, and they both work off each other.”

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Salita On Joshua-Franklin: "I Feel That Jermaine Has A Lot Of The Attributes Ruiz Has"

“I feel that Jermaine has a lot of the attributes Ruiz has,” Salita told BS.com. “He has a good chin, he comes forward, he cuts off the ring, has fast hands. He’s a combination puncher and has shown that he can function at the highest level thousands of miles away from home, when the crowd is against him, as he did with Dillian Whyte. He’s very hungry. He wants to change his life.”

“If you look at trajectory,” Salita said, “Jermaine has only gone up consistently, and Anthony Joshua, after the Ruiz fights, he’s gone a little bit up, then come back down. Joshua, whether it’s athletics, personal life, fame, trainers, etcetera, he hasn’t been able to pull it together at the highest level. He looked OK against Kubrat Pulev [in December 2020], but until he knocked him out [in the ninth round], he wasn’t as spectacular as we were expecting him to be. I believe Anthony Joshua is one of the greatest heavyweights of this generation. So, what I’m saying, I’m not in any way belittling his amazing accomplishments.

“But you could see he’s hesitant about getting hit and he is thinking twice about being aggressive. He changed some of that in the second Usyk fight, but he got caught a couple of times, where I saw that those doubts [resurfaced]. It’s up to Jermaine, obviously, to continue to build on his potential and to show up on the night of the fight, April 1st.”

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Tickets Not Selling

Anthony Joshua’s fight against Jermaine Franklin on April 1 at the O2 Arena in London has “thousands” of unsold tickets, according to Gareth A. Davies. Things are starting to look desperate.

There’s concern that the Joshua-Franklin fight won’t sell out, which could signal that Joshua’s star power is beginning to fade after two consecutive defeats and three losses in his last five contests. Eddie Hearn may need to work his magic to get the tickets to sell.

Gareth believes that the fans are reacting to being disappointed with Joshua vs. Tyson Fury fight not happening last year. That’s the one that the boxing world wanted to see, particularly fans in the UK.

After that big letdown, British fans, not surprisingly, are less than eager to purchase tickets to watch Joshua fight the American Franklin, who is coming off a loss to Dillian Whyte last November at the Wembley Arena.

In hindsight, Joshua should have picked another opponent like Whyte, Joe Joyce of Deontay Wilder instead of Franklin.

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He's learning from Spence..

[Evander]

In hindsight, Joshua should have picked another opponent like Whyte, Joe Joyce of Deontay Wilder instead of Franklin.

He could have done that, but considering the monster payday he'll get against Tyson Fury should he beat Franklin, why risk it against any of the boxers mentioned.
Joshua isn't the fighter he once was, that said he's by far from being washed up either, however each of those boxers show up and have a good night against him and there goes the bumper Fury payday.

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Joshua on Franklin: "In Terms of Talent, You Can't Deny the Man; Popularity Doesn't Win Fights"

“Here’s the thing, because Whyte’s popular doesn’t mean that he’s gonna win,” Joshua told Ade Oladipo on The DAZN Boxing Show. “Popularity doesn’t win fights. Jermaine Franklin is a fighter. Whether you know of him that’s your own research and how much you invest into research and the whole business. But in terms of talent, you can’t deny the man (Franklin). When a man turns up in that ring to fight, he’s coming to fight you and take your head off. That’s what he tried to do with Dillian.”

“Whether we expect more from Dillian, I feel like you should not underestimate your opponent," Joshua said. "Even though we expect so much from Dillian, let’s not put his opponent down here because his opponent is still worthy enough to step into the ring with him.”

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Eddie Hearn Responds To Talk Of Poor Ticket Sales For Joshua Comeback

Eddie Hearn has defended ticket sales for Anthony Joshua’s upcoming comeback bout against Jermaine Franklin at the 02 next month.

Images have been circulating online recently that show plenty of tickets still available for the heavyweight clash on April 1st, a stark contrast to the days where ‘AJ’ would sell out Wembley and the Millennium Stadium in a matter of weeks.

However, Hearn insisted to ID Boxing that the London venue will be sold out on the night – before seemingly taking a pop at Tyson Fury his stalling in negotiations to face Oleksandr Usyk.

“We’ve got a couple of thousand left, we haven’t given tickets out yet for the undercard. We’ll be completely full on the night.”

“At the end of the day, do you want to listen to bull****, or do you want to see a real fighter?”

“You’ll see Anthony Joshua back in action, with vengeance, at the 02 on April 1st.”

Joshua was once arguably the biggest star in the in the sport, and has become accustomed to filling out football stadiums whenever he fights on British shores.

However, many feel his popularity went on a steady decline after his loss to Andy Ruiz Jr at Madison Square Garden, and has nosedived as a result of back to back defeats to Usyk

Next month’s meeting with Franklin is without question crucial for Joshua, as defeat would almost certainly spell an end to any ambitions he may have of becoming a three time world heavyweight champion.

The American gave a respectable account of himself in defeat to Dillian Whyte last November, however Joshua still goes into the contest as wide betting favourite, and will be looking to make a statement against the ‘989 Assassin.’