The heavily-polarized British former unified champion, Anthony Joshua, has made a successful return to the ring following his two losses to Oleksandr Usyk in 2021 and 2022, but the Watford-born fighter’s performance against Jermaine Franklin on April 1st, has been heavily criticized and barely praised even with a unanimous decision win under his belt. The judges scorecards reflected the fight quite accurately with scores of 118-111 and 117-111 twice.
The Heavyweight bout between Anthony Joshua (25-3, 22 KO’s) and Jermaine Franklin (21-2, 14 KO’s) ― held at the O2 Arena in London ― went the total of twelve rounds and was labeled “New Dawn”, signifying that the winner would enter a new and blossoming path in their careers. It was Anthony Joshua who eventually won after a total of twelve rounds had passed.
The first half of the fight was noticeably quite different from the latter half, with it being more competitive rather than when it became more one-sided as the fight went on. Jermaine Franklin, intent on proving his mettle after a controversial win over Dillian Whyte (29-3, 19 KO’s) ― less than half a year ago in November of 2022, started strong and forced Anthony Joshua from taking it easy as he pushed the British fighter to counterattack. Joshua noticeably either suffered a nose bleed in the first round or prior to it, making for a rather contemplative first couple of rounds.
Franklin was most successful with jabs to the body, but Joshua in turn seemed to be well-capable of catching Franklin when he came inside, especially with his laser-sharp jabs. Though it looked like Joshua won most of the first six rounds, Jermaine Franklin made it hard for Joshua in multiple rounds as he forcibly pressured the bigger fighter as much as he could. As the rounds went on, however, Joshua noticeably became looser and more confident and his initial approach of being tentative and throwing single shots turned into him throwing more as the match went on.
The key component of Joshua’s victory was in his jab which Jermaine Franklin was unable to properly defend against at any point in the match. Though Anthony Joshua did not use his jab to set up combinations, it did provide him with the means to push Jermaine Franklin everytime he came close.
There was also more clinching involved by Anthony Joshua which neutralized Franklin’s attempts to do damage on the inside. Contrastingly, Franklin also clinched with Joshua but it became apparent that it was more of a tactic to survive when the match headed into the latter stage.
The last six rounds of the match was a showcase for Anthony Joshua who seemed to have shaken off both ring rust and anxiety as he dominated the rest of the fight. Jermaine Franklin ― who seemed to be dealing with fatigue, nervousness or both ― became less effective in the last six rounds and clearly looked hurt at certain points as Joshua started to unleash more punches than he had in the first half.
Franklin seemed overwhelmed by Joshua’s power and counters, and eventually settled on holding on to Anthony Joshua rather than engaging directly with him. Both fighters seemed frustrated at this point of the fight as Joshua failed to finish Franklin who no longer seemed interest in winning the fight with the manner in which he held. Though Franklin clung to desperation tactics and lost all of the championship rounds convincingly, he showed a good account with himself earlier when he seemingly pushed Joshua as much as he could with his combinations.
Anthony Joshua however seemed to be in total control later on and to no surprise in anybody in the arena, the British former unified Heavyweight champion netted home a clean unanimous decision victory that saw him win the majority of rounds according to the judges.
Despite his win, Anthony Joshua proved his status as one of the most popular ― as well as scrutinized boxers ― with a rather easy victory that was still considered a disappointment by many contemporaries in boxing. His lack of willingness to throw more punches has been scathed by others as a lack of having will or heart, and the British former champion has been surprisingly regarded as “finished” or “done” despite a deserved win.
Notably, Anthony Joshua is now with his third trainer in just two years, and despite a UD win which is not considered amazing or impressive by the majority of boxing fans, he is still working with a new style under his latest coach Derrick James. Joshua’s heavily-polarized image in boxing has made it quite easy for many to overly-criticize or under-criticize the boxer, and it will be difficult for him to take this win in strides given the criticism he has received after the match after winning.
Though Joshua called out WBC Heavyweight champion Tyson Fury (33-0-1, 24 KO’s), given his win is considered a disappointment by peers, viewers and fans, the British-born fighter will likely take an easier match if his team ― including Matchroom chairman and promoter Eddie Hearn ― has any say about it.
Overall, his performance was good but not spectacular, and even with the supposed mental weaknesses that has kept him from throwing punches in near-wild abandon to look for a knockout, Joshua won in a rather easy match and moreover proved to improved in some areas. However, his status in the boxing world has made people impatient about any improvement he makes, and people seem to want Joshua to revert back to a style where he is decisively more reckless, but more dangerous at any range. Only time will tell, however, whether Joshua can make the necessary improvement to challenge the top Heavyweights.
Though his performance didn’t indicate he would be able to beat the likes of Tyson Fury, Oleksandr Usyk (20-0, 13 KO’s) and Deontay Wilder (43-2-1, 42 KO’s) who are considered the best Heavyweights in the world, Joshua has done well against a tough opponent in Jermaine Franklin who has never been knocked down, and seemed ultra-confident prior to facing the former British champion.
Franklin’s own performance has slightly been underrated, and will be overshadowed by persistent debates on whether Joshua still has what it takes to become a world champion. With Jermaine Franklin also embroiled in a court case with his own promoter, Dmitry Salita, the American fighter will likely have to take a couple step backs with his team and re-evaluate his next steps as he looks to win his legal proceedings with the promotion that he is signed to.
The rest of the card saw Lightweight Campbell Hatton (11-0, 4 KO’s), son of UK boxing legend Ricky Hatton, showcase his growth with a first-round knockout over his opponent. It was an impressive performance by Hatton who is currently coping with the pressure his last name warrants.
Middleweights Austin Williams (14-0, 10 KO’s) and River Wilson-Bent (14-3-1, 6 KO’s) went head-to-head in what turned out to be showcase performance for the former with an eventual stoppage win over Wilson-Bent.
British Heavyweight prospect Fabio Wardley (16-0, 15 KO’s) was in a challenging match against American fighter Michael Polite Coffie (13-4, 10 KO’s), and Coffie seemed to edge the first three rounds before being controversially stopped too early by the referee in the fourth round after Wardley had him on the ropes. With Coffie looking no worse for wear even after Wardley throwing a slew of combinations when he had the American on the ropes, the referee’s decision was not well-liked.
Lastly, Galal Yafai (4-0, 3 KO’s) ― the youngest of three brothers of the Yafai family who have made their name in boxing, proved his budding talent with a stoppage victory over his own opponent. As the former Olympic gold medalist has stated himself in his post-match interview, he is making strides in his career by participating in ten-round bouts since his debut in February of 2022, and he has filled his resume with competitive fighters that have winning records.
Though his record is only 4-0 (with 3 KO’s), Galal Yafai has shown a good account of himself with his fourth-round stoppage win over Mexican fighter Moises Calleros (36-11-1, 19 KO’s), and the British fighter has amazingly gone on to already become regarded as the 20th best Flyweight in the world around just a year after making his professional boxing debut.
