We recently learned that Anthony Joshua will be fighting on April 1st in London against Jermaine Franklin. Joshua has been in a lot of high profile fights throughout his career. We’ve seen him compete at the highest levels of the amateur ranks when he won gold in the 2012 Olympics, and we’ve seen him compete against the likes of Wladimir Klitschko, Andy Ruiz Jr, and Oleksandr Uysk in the professional ranks. So it was a little bit of a surprise to hear that he was taking his next fight against a relatively unknown fighter.
There are a lot of names for a fight like this, but ultimately, we’re dealing with a fighter that needs to get back to his winning ways. Jermaine Franklin is the perfect fighter to play that role. He’s not very big, by heavyweight standards, only 6’2”, only 77” reach, and with only 14 KO’s in 22 professional fights, doesn’t have great power. To add to that, Franklin just dropped a majority decision to Dillian Whyte. On paper, it appears Franklin lacks the size, skill, and power to compete amongst the best in the division. He’s also an orthodox fighter, which will be a nice change of pace for Joshua after fighting Usyk in his last two outings. But Franklin isn’t showing up to be run over and discarded, he knows that he’s a big underdog but believes he can pull it off.
“So many people talking trash about me and my skills. But I see no one is questioning my heart. That is what wins fights. April 1st I will show you.” Franklin said.
This fight is being set up to restore the confidence of Joshua, let the fans see him raise his hands in victory again, and to stay busy while waiting for the next opportunity. Anthony Joshua’s name is constantly mentioned with names like Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder, and now even Francis Ngannou. But those fights aren’t happening right now, and the best teams and fighters in the world know that they need to stay busy to remain sharp in their craft and relevant with the fans.
Anthony Joshua suffered some setbacks recently, but he’s still in the prime of his career and has a huge following. Almost everyone expects him to look highly impressive against Franklin, which will set the stage for him to have a big fight later this year. Will that be a cross-over fight against Ngannou? Will he get the winner of Wilder vs Ruiz Jr…if that fight happens? Either way, with a win over Franklin, Joshua puts himself in a good position, and that’s what every fighter and promoter wants.
