Anthony Joshua will fight Jermaine Franklin at The O2 this weekend in the hope of reviving his aspirations of being a three-time heavyweight world champion.
The British boxer has lost his last two fights to Oleksandr Usyk, who took Joshua’s IBF, WBO and WBA belts at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before successfully defending those titles in Saudi Arabia. Both fights went the full 12 rounds.
Franklin is a durable fighter who impressed against Dillian Whyte at the end of last year but Joshua, who has never lost at The O2, remains the heavy favourite to beat the American.
Joshua is searching for his first win since his knockout victory against Kubrat Pulev in December 2020 and ha spent the build-up in the USA to work with his new trainer, Derrick James, who admitted to being confused with the AJ’s tactics against Usyk.
Despite Joshua’s comeback, many fans are more preoccupied with a potential unification bout between Usyk and Tyson Fury, though that now appears to be off the table for now.
Speaking on the DAZN Boxing Show, promoter Eddie Hearn revealed that Joshua does aspire to becoming a world champion again.
“If this fight doesn’t get made, I want to sit down with George Warren [part of Fury’s promotional team], and God willing AJ comes through against Jermaine Franklin, and makes it through that fight – AJ against Tyson Fury, why not?
“It’s financially a much bigger fight for Tyson Fury. It’s the biggest fight in world boxing by miles. If that fight doesn’t get made, I’ll be kicking and screaming for this.”
When are the ring walks?
- Date: Saturday 1 April
- Venue: O2 Arena, London
- Time: The undercard is set to start at 6pm, the main card at 7pm, and the main event ring walks scheduled for 10.15pm UK time. Times could change depending on the length of the undercard fights.
- TV channel/stream: The only place to watch the fight in the UK is on DAZN. Subscriptions start from £9.99 a month – this is the first AJ fight for seven years that has not been pay-per-view
Why is Joshua on DAZN?
Last year Joshua said goodbye to Sky Sports and signed an exclusive deal with streaming platform DAZN reported to be worth around $100m (£81m).
“I am entering a new phase in my career with a new training environment, new coaches and now a new broadcaster,” said Joshua.
“Negotiations at this level take time so I am pleased to have it all wrapped up and now I can fully focus on giving the fans and DAZN what they want: knockouts in the glamour division.”
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