Anthony Joshua announces Jermaine Franklin fight as he begins comeback
Anthony Joshua will look for his first win in over two years when he faces Jermaine Franklin at The O2 arena on April 1.
Former two-time heavyweight champion Joshua, 33, hasn't won a fight since knocking out Kubrat Pulev in December 2020. 'AJ' lost his unified titles to former cruiserweight king Oleksandr Usyk in September 2021 and failed to win them back against the Ukrainian in their rematch last August.
The Brit will look to bounce back to winning ways against Franklin, who suffered the first defeat of his professional career in a controversial decision loss to Dillian Whyte last November. Joshua announced his fight against Franklin by uploading a poster of the fight to his Instagram account, captioning the post: "A new dawn".
Since losing to Usyk for the first time, Joshua has parted ways with two trainers and has seemingly settled on Derrick James to train him for his upcoming fight against Franklin. The 51-year-old, who coaches American world champions such as Errol Spence Jr and Jermell Charlo, will look to put Joshua back on the path to world title contention.
Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn recently laid out his plan for 'AJ' which involves facing an opponent of Franklin's level before setting up blockbuster fights with Whyte and Deontay Wilder later in the year. Hearn has praised Joshua's decision to be coached in America for his upcoming fight as he thinks it's hard for the Brit to deal with the attention he receives in the UK.
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"The problem is with him being in the UK is he can't breathe, when he goes to America people still know who he is but it's just a different world. Can you imagine that AJ where he is going to be training, can go for a walk and go and sit in a coffee shop with some friends," Hearn said on the DAZN Boxing Show .
"That is an impossibility in the UK, it's just a pressure cooker. The problem is because he's that role model, he'll never turn down a photo or conversation. You don't realise how much that is going to drain you when you're doing two or three sessions a day as well. I think this move is going to be really good for him and you're going to see a reinvigorated Anthony Joshua in April."
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