Anthony Joshua will be returning to action on April Fool’s day, no really, he will, when he takes on Jermaine Franklin, looking to get his career back on track after a worrying string of results.
The British heavyweight is looking to rebuild his status in the division as he heads into the fight without a title. It feels like an eternity since AJ didn’t have a belt to his name or was heading into a bout as a challenger to a title, but that’s where he now finds himself.
He has three losses in his last five outings. He lost his heavyweight titles in shock fashion to Andy Ruiz Jr, before winning them back in a rematch. After defending his belts against Kubrat Pulev, Oleksandr Usyk dethroned him at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The rematch in Jeddah went the same way at the back end of 2022, with AJ not seen since.
Anthony Joshua vs Jermaine Franklin
The American, who boasts a 21-1 record, with 14 wins via knockout will prove a decent test for Joshua who has seen his career take a huge dip in recent months. However, Franklin heads into the bout off a huge loss as well.
He took on Dillian Whyte at Wembley, losing via majority decision. It is his only loss however, so this fight will provide him a huge opportunity to prove that defeat was a one off and he was in fact heading straight for the top in the heavyweight division.
Whoever loses this fight will have a lot of work to do to get back to this level and beyond, but the winner will have some huge fights ahead and will be on the right path for a major title shot.
Image: Anthony Joshua looks jacked ahead of Jermaine Franklin fight
Recently, we saw AJ training by axing down trees, looking absolutely jacked in that, but now his latest post shows us just how good his physique is currently and why he is the odds-on favourite for the bout.
He’s topless and is showing off his full physique ahead of the bout and he looks in dangerous shape, Franklin could well have his work cut out for him, unless he has some tricks up his sleeve.
Usyk has proven that it is possible to outbox the former heavyweight champion, but Franklin will have to seriously raise his game should he get the better of AJ in London next month.
