By Alex Ballentine
Anthony Joshua picked up a crucial victory with a unanimous decision win over Jermaine Franklin from the O2 Arena in London.
In the early going, it felt like Joshua was fighting like a man who knew he couldn’t lose.
He was a little stiff, maintaining a high guard and cautiously throwing just enough to win the rounds.
Meanwhile, Franklin looked comfortable and showed his familiarity with his opponent.
Franklin didn’t seem to care that he was the underdog. He stayed right in range and was the busier fighter, working punches to Joshua’s body and creating competitive rounds early in the fight.
Despite the spirited effort from Franklin, Joshua controlled even those earlier rounds. He consistently landed his jab and while he wasn’t dominating the rounds, he wasn’t losing them either.
Joshua continued to fight in cruise control throughout the middle rounds. There was the occasional hard right right hand that found a home but Joshua was hesitant to put anything substantial together.
Joshua did show some glimpses of the powerhouse that he used to be. In the 10th round, he let his hands go and landed several heavy punches in one of his best rounds of the fight.
With Franklin desperate to change the fight, Joshua was able to land a few good power punches over the final three rounds as he put the finishing touches on a unanimous decision victory.
The win gets Joshua back in the win column after losing back-to-back fights with Oleksandr Usyk. The former cruiserweight outpointed Joshua in consecutive fights to take away his heavyweight championship and keep them away.
The series of losses inspired two trainer changes for Joshua. He parted ways with his long-time trainer, Robert McCracken, and trained with Robert Garcia for his rematch with Usyk.
While he made some improvements and the fight was closer, he still made yet another switch.
This time, he was trained by Derrick James. The Errol Spence and Jermell Charlo coach has clearly made an impact on the former champion.
With Franklin out of the way and Joshua showing he can still deliver the goods in some capacity, the potential for bigger fights lies ahead for the 33-year-old.
“If you were to ask me what my ambitions are, one would be to fight for the heavyweight championship of the world,” he said before fighting Franklin, Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. “Motivation is to make money, and the last ambition is to fight Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury and Joe Joyce.”
A potentially massive fight between Joshua and Fury has lost significant momentum since Joshua lost to Andy Ruiz Jr. back in 2019. However, wins like this one could build a path toward another big fight for him.
*Culled from Sports Illustrated
