Anthony Joshua to Return to the 02 Arena in April

There’s no doubting that Anthony Joshua’s legacy has taken a considerable hit over the past 18 months, with the former two-time world heavyweight champion suffering two consecutive defeats at the hands of Ukrainian pound-for-pound great Oleksandr Usyk in September of 2021 and August 2022 respectively.

As is always the case in boxing, Joshua has been heavily criticised for his performances in both defeats – with many fans and pundits of the belief that the Watford native has lost that all-important killer instinct that had previously made him so successful against the likes of Dillian Whyte, Charles Martin, Alexander Povetkin and most notably – Wladimir Klitschko.

That could be considered as a harsh assessment however, as a fading Klitschko late in his career doesn’t compare to a prime Usyk. 

The latter’s footwork, accuracy, southpaw stance and ring nous are arguably the best we’ve seen in the higher weight classes for many decades – and given Usyk’s laundry list of accomplishments at both the amateur level and in the cruiserweight division preceding his pair of fights with Joshua – there’s no shame in being bested by a boxer of the Ukrainian’s calibre.

However, that doesn’t change the position Joshua is in – which is beltless and with a very difficult path to becoming a three-time world champion in the blue-riband division. That is why he needs a strong showing in his comeback fight – to not only boost his profile as a contender once again – but also his confidence.

And that comeback fight will be against American Jermaine Franklin at the 02 Arena on April 1, after Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn made the announcement earlier this month. Franklin was a relative unknown among UK boxing fans before his most recent outing in London in November, where he was defeated in controversial fashion by majority decision at the hands of Whyte.

That marked the sole loss on Franklin’s resume to date – and while he proved he is a solid contender at heavyweight in his bout against the man affectionately known as the ‘Bodysnatcher’ – Joshua is still expected to make light work of the 29-year-old.

That is represented in the online betting odds, with Joshua garnering a short price of 1/12, while his opponent is the outsider at 7/1.

While Joshua v Franklin will not have the allure compared to that of a showdown with current WBC champion Tyson Fury, WBO mandatory challenger Joe Joyce or former champion Deontay Wilder, fans will watch on with great interest to see if Joshua still has enough in the tank to return to the summit of the sport.

Additionally, with Joshua choosing to change trainers once again, this time employing the services of all-time great Texan head coach Derrick James – it’ll be intriguing to see if there’s any noticeable improvement.

Nonetheless, if Joshua can do what is expected of him and beat Franklin in bruising fashion, not only does it put the 33-year-old back in contention for a world title – it will hopefully mean that we are one step closer to getting an enormous clash with one of the aforementioned big-name heavyweights in Fury, Joyce or Wilder. 

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