Anthony Joshua identifies two men charged with plotting route back to the top

11 February 2023 , 20:00

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Anthony Joshua identifies two men charged with plotting route back to the top

Anthony Joshua will let promoter Eddie Hearn and trainer Derrick James dictate his path back to the top — even if that means him taking the long route round.

Joshua confirmed last week that he will meet American Jermaine Franklin at London’s O2 Arena on April 1 as he looks to rebuild his career following back-to-back defeats by Usyk. And the expectation is that, if he comes through the Franklin fight with a win, he will face old foe Dillian Whyte in a summer rematch, nearly eight years on from their first meeting as professionals. Many fans will question why Joshua, the two-time world heavyweight champion, needs two such fights and why he wouldn’t automatically be knocking at the door for a clash with whoever comes out on top between Usyk and Tyson Fury if he beats Franklin in his comeback.

That’s assuming, of course, that Usyk and Fury are able to get their undisputed bout — negotiations for which are ongoing for an April 29 clash — signed and sealed. But AJ, who has always taken a hands-on approach to his career, will defer to whatever Hearn and new cornerman James tell him as he and the team around him put back in place the building blocks Ukrainian tough man Usyk knocked down. Joshua said: “Do you know what, in terms of whether I want to go straight back to a world title shot or have a couple more fights, I am stepping away from that aspect now and I'll let my gaffers [Hearn and James] speak on it.

Anthony Joshua suffered two devastating losses to Oleksandr Usyk (Getty Images)

“But we are certainly not running away from it, me personally, I am not running away from it. Who’ll win out of Usyk and Fury? It does matter to me because it is my division but I am not going to say.” Joshua has taken himself off to James’s gym in Texas to prepare for the Franklin fight and that, of course, comes at a cost of taking him away from spending time with his son, JJ. Joshua added: “It’s tough but it is what it is. It’s my decision. And I find it interesting how he will react on it in his later life. He might say, ‘Dad, you weren’t there for me’.

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“But I'll say, ‘Shut up, man, look at that Ferrari’,” he said with raucous laughter. "No, I’m joking. I’ll be tough on him but that’s my culture, I’m from a Nigerian household, discipline is a big deal. A lot of Nigerian kids are well raised and disciplined and well mannered. People might think it’s fake or whatever but because I’m from a Nigerian household I treat all you guys with respect, I shake everyone’s hand, I stand up when someone walks into a room because that is the culture I was brought up in.

“It was when I would leave my house and not be around my family that I would get in a lot of trouble. So JJ is being raised in that culture and environment of having a lot of respect for his elders. People may not have understood how I could be one way inside the ring and a very different way outside of it. But it's just the way I was raised and JJ was raised in that same environment as well.”

Tom Hopkinson