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Anthony Joshua CONFIRMS that he will fight American Jermaine Franklin at the O2 in April…as he looks to return to winning ways after successive losses to Oleksandr Usyk
- Anthony Joshua has confirmed that he will fight Jermaine Franklin at the 02 Arena
- He will seek to return to winning ways after two losses against Oleksandr Usyk
- Franklin is coming off the first loss of her career to Dillian Whyte in November
Anthony Joshua has confirmed that he will face American Jermaine Franklin at the 02 Arena in April.
The former world heavyweight champion will be looking to win again after suffering successive losses to Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk.
Sportsmail exclusively revealed that the pair had reached an agreement for the fight, in which Joshua will look to add his first win to his professional record since defeating Kubrat Pulev in December 2020.
Joshua took to social media Monday to confirm the fight, which will air on DAZN.
On the official fight poster, he wrote ‘new dawn’, which seems to promise that he will bring a better version of himself when he steps into the ring on April 1.
Anthony Joshua (left) will face Jermaine Franklin (right) when he returns to the ring in April
Franklin has an impressive 21-1 record, suffering her first career loss to Dillian Whyte via majority decision in November of last year.
Earlier this week, Whyte caught the news that he would not be getting his rematch with Joshua, and that the fight would go to the opponent he defeated.
He told the Sun: “I’m fine but I’m facing the usual annoyances, I just want to do a few fights but it’s fucking frustrating.”
“Everybody was told, every boxing fan, the winner of Franklin and I fought AJ, so this is a fucked up thing.
“It would have been better to lose the Franklin fight and get the AJ fight!”
Franklin trained with Joshua’s British compatriot Tyson Fury to prepare for his loss to Whyte last year.
Joshua looked set to face Fury in December, but negotiations between the two British fighters collapsed in October after Gypsy King grew frustrated with how long AJ’s team was taking to sign the contract.
AJ was disappointed to see the deal fall through as they had made good progress, agreeing to the financial terms of the fight and splitting the purse 60/40 in favor of the WBC champion.
The couple had also named the Principality Stadium in Cardiff as the chosen venue and agreed on television rights, which were said to be a stumbling block. However, it was not meant to be.
Joshua (right) suffered a second straight loss to Usyk (left) in August (top), having lost his WBA, WBO and IBF belts to the Ukrainian in September 2021.
He will face Franklin (right), who went head-to-head with Dillian Whyte (left) in November 2022.
Franklin (left) trained alongside Fury (center) before her showdown with Dillian Whyte
AJ was then linked with undefeated Australian heavyweight Demsey McKean when the southpaw called the fight after he won the IBF Intercontinental heavyweight belt last October.
Franklin felt like he was “robbed” against Whyte, with Michael Alexander scoring his fight level at 115-115 while Juergen Landos and Grzegorz Molenda scored the fight 116-112 in Whyte’s favor.
Joshua’s Matchroom Boxing promoter, Eddie Hearn, vowed that his fighter would return for revenge after his two losses to Usyk.
Eddie Hearn (right) insists Joshua will return with a vengeance after two losses.
‘The lack of respect for this man’s name is unbelievable. People who want to downplay their achievements in the sport,” he said of AJ on DAZN.
‘You who want to say that you have finished in the sport; get ready for the return of Anthony Joshua on April 1st.
This guy is out there in Texas. He is working and grinding every day. This guy has money in the bank. He has world championship belts on the wall. He doesn’t care about either of them.
‘He cares about the sport of boxing. He cares about regaining the world heavyweight title.
I’m telling you, he’s coming back with a vengeance. Record it at your own risk.