Anthony Joshua and Muhammad Ali: AJ vs Franklin: Anthony Joshua will return on April 1 against Jermaine Franklin at the O2 Arena in the UK, after suffering consecutive defeats against Oleksandr Usyk. Having lost his heavyweight championship, Anthony Joshua will compete in a non-world title bout against Franklin for the first time since December 2015. For more combat sports news, follow Insidesport.IN.
While AJ was touted as a proper matchup for Tyson Fury a few years back, his current status in facing Jermaine Franklin is clearly a downgrade. However, Anthony Joshua is still optimistic about his boxing career and has justified how he is walking in the footsteps of Muhammad Ali.
When asked by DAZN Boxing about picking Jermaine Franklin as his opponent, ‘AJ’ said, “They [Casual fans] don’t care who I fight you know what I mean. It’s people that have big expectations that feel like they know so much about the sport that wants to complain because of the value, this, that. But at the end of the day like, who did Muhammad Ali fight in his 22nd fight? You can’t name it. You just remember his big fights. But in order to get to the big fights, you have to follow a process and a path.”
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Once an undefeated knockout artist and a heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua, has lost 3 of his last 5 fights. The boxing experts have now begun doubting his chances against other heavyweight kingpins like Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury, especially after watching Oleksandr Usyk manhandle ‘AJ’ across two bouts. That said, a win over Jermaine Franklin will bring back the Briton to the conversation.
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Anthony Joshua vs Jermaine Franklin: Is Franklin a worthy opponent for ‘AJ’ ?
Jermaine Franklin has never worn a boxing world title. However, that doesn’t fade his credibility as a top-tier heavyweight contender. Boasting off a 21-1 pro record, Franklin suffered his maiden career defeat at the hands of Dillian Whyte in November 2022. He will try to bounce back from the loss and it can’t be better if Franklin can core that victory against Anthony Joshua.
Anthony Joshua compares himself to Muhammad Ali: Watch how Anthony Joshua justified picking Jermaine Franklin with a Muhammad Ali reference
Both Joshua and Franklin are heavy-handed orthodox hitters. They are known to put their opponents to sleep and have scored most of their victories via stoppage. So, AJ vs Franklin looks interesting for the fans, as it also remains a must-win bout for Joshua.
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