On Saturday night, Anthony Joshua successfully announced his return to the heavyweight division by defeating American boxer Jermaine Franklin.
Anthony Joshua’s victory over Franklin is seen as a critical step towards a long career in the sport, and it is his eighth victory at London’s O2 Arena.
It’s also Joshua’s first victory in his last three fights. Recalls Joshua’s back-to-back losses to Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk, to whom the British boxer lost all of his belts in 2022.
For Joshua to defeat Franklin, who fought valiantly on Saturday night, the Nigerian-born British boxer needed to outperform the three judges.
Joshua used the American boxer to return to winning ways after a long night, winning 118-111, 117-111, 117-111.
Franklin had only lost once in 22 professional fights, a disputed majority decision loss to Dillian Whyte in November 2022.
The fight on Saturday between the American and British boxers was one of the most important matches of Joshua’s career, despite the fact that it was his first contest in seven years without at least one world title on the line. The outcome would have an impact on his future career path.
It would have been heartbreaking if Joshua’s career had ended with a third straight defeat.
According to Naija News, he announced ahead of the fight that if he lost, he would retire from boxing.
However, victory would return him to the top of the heavyweight division, where he was after winning the unified heavyweight title twice.
Joshua landed precise shots throughout the fight on Saturday, but he passed up the opportunity to knock out Franklin and make a stronger statement.
Joshua and Franklin’s closing exchanges had to be stopped after Franklin’s corner charged at Joshua after he was declared the winner.