By Ian S Palmer
Former Heavyweight Titlist Anthony Joshua of Watford, England will be trying to get his career back on track this Saturday, April 1st after suffering a unanimous and split decision loss to Oleksandr Usyk in his last two outings, the last of which took place in August. Joshua will be stepping into the ring in the O2 Arena in London against Jermaine Franklin of Saginaw, Michigan. The 12-round bout can be seen live in most nations on DAZN. Franklin last fought in November when he was edged by Dillian Whyte via a controversial 12-round majority decision for his lone career loss as a pro.
The 29 year-old Franklin climbs through the ropes with a mark of 21-1 with 14 Ko’s and has boxed 111 rounds since making his pro debut in 2015 following a relatively short amateur career. He’s 6-feet-2-inches tall with a 77-inch and possesses pretty good power in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 63.6 per cent. Franklin took a step up in class in his last fight against Whyte and passed the test as many fans felt he did enough to earn at least a draw.
Of course, that’s almost an impossibility in the UK though for a foreign boxer though unless he dominates the proceedings. He’s beaten the likes of Adam Collins, Daniel Allotey, Akhror Muralimov, Tyrell Wright, Cory Phelps, Ed Fountain and Craig Lewis but has also beaten a few recognizable names in Pavel Sour, Jerry Forrest and Rydell Booker. However, he went the distance with all three of them and has stopped just one of his last six opponents.
The 33-year-old Joshua is a former 2012 Olympic gold medalist who won the IBF Title in his 16th pro bout by stopping Charles Martin in the second round in 2016. He enters the fight with a record of 24-3 with 22 Ko’s. He ended his first 14 bouts and 16 of his first 18 within the first three rounds and owns a current knockout ratio of 81.5 per cent. He’s gone the distance in three of his last four fights though and lost three of the past five.
Joshua stopped Wladimir Klitschko in the 11th round in 2017 to take his WBA title and the vacant IBO Crown. He added the WBO Title with a unanimous decision win over Joseph Parker the next year but lost them all in 2019 when Andy Ruiz stopped him in the seventh round in Joshua’s first fight outside of the UK. He beat Ruiz by by unanimous decision in their rematch though six months later to regain the titles. Joshua defended them once by stopping Kubrat Pulev in the ninth round a year later and lost them again when he ran into Usyk in September, 2021 and lost the rematch 11 months later.
Joshua has also beaten Carlos Takam, Alexander Povetkin, Eric Molina and Dominic Breazeale, Dillian Whyte and Kevin Johnson along the way. His chin has always been a bit of a question mark and his power hasn’t been quite as evident lately. Klitschko had him down and apparently out in the sixth round in 2017, but Joshua came back and stopped him. However, he was dropped four times by Ruiz in their first fight and rocked a couple of times by Usyk. Joshua turned pro in 2013 and has 136 rounds under his belt since.
He’s a good-sized heavyweight by today’s standards as he stands 6-feet-6-inches tall with an 82-inch reach which gives him a four-inch height and five-inch reach advantage on Franklin. Joshua is arguably a bit too muscle bound though, but possesses pretty good boxing skills even if he is a bit robotic. He has decent mobility and upper body movement as well as a stiff jab but usually tries to stay away from slugfests if possible while he attempts to box his opponents and use his size to advantage.
Joshua tries to avoid going toe-to-toe as much as possible these days, such as he did in the rematch with Ruiz, since he has the habit of losing his legs when getting nailed on the chin. Of course, he also has to stand his ground and fight back when tested though so this has proven to be a bit of a dilemma for him. He’ll try using his jab and nailing Franklin on his way in with something solid whenever he sees an opening but will definitely go after him if he feels he’s hurt.
Prediction…
Joshua’s knockout loss to Ruiz wasn’t really a surprise since his chin has always been a bit of a question mark but he’s now fine tuned his other boxing skills because of it. He employed a successful hit-and-run plan against Ruiz in their rematch but had no luck against Usyk until he started unloading power shots in the second fight. Franklin is a relative unknown who has the motivation and power to beat Joshua but he’s unlikely to do so unless he stops him. I’ll go with Joshua this time around but a loss wouldn’t be a surprise either.
