Anthony Joshua wins his first fight in almost 2 years
At O2 Arena, London on the evening of April 1, Joshua overwhelmed and excelled in all parameters. The British boxer launched 376 hits, with 117 hits on target - a rate of 31%. Franklin hit more when punching 426 hits, but only 58 hits correctly, reaching a 14% rate. Joshua had 225 jabs, hit the target 57 times, reaching a 25% rate. While, this parameter of Franklin is 21 shots on target out of a total of 241 hits, achieving a rate of less than 10%. In addition, Joshua also has 60 accurate heavy blows out of a total of 151 hits, reaching a rate of 40%. This parameter is twice that of Franklin - who only has 37 accurate heavy blows despite launching 185 attacks.
After 12 rounds without a khock-out, Joshua won the referee points 118-111, 117-111, 117-111. Thanks to that, the British boxer relieved the pressure after losing two matches in a row to Usyk and losing four heavyweight belts, including WBA (Super), WBO, IBF and IBO. In September 2021, Joshua lost to Usyk by referee points in a defense of four heavyweight titles. In August 2022, Joshua continued to lose to the Ukrainian opponent and could not reclaim the championship belt.
"Last time I took the mic in the ring, it was a bit chaotic, but now I'm calm," Joshua said after the match, referring to his comments after his rematch lost to Usyk. "Franklin played well and I respect him. I should have knocked Franklin out, but what can I say? The job is done, and I have to move on."
After that, Joshua emphasized that he wanted to fight Tyson Fury - a fellow boxer holding the WBC belt. The two fighters once negotiated to fight in the ring in December 2022, but the negotiation broke down and ended with a fierce battle of words. Afterwards, Fury wanted to fight for a unified heavyweight title fight with Usyk, but couldn't come to an agreement.
"I know who the fans want me to fight next. Who do the fans want?" shouted Joshua, and the crowd responded almost in unison "Fury". The 33-year-old boxer said it was "honored" to fight for Fury's WBC belt, but admitted the final decision rests with his compatriot.
The O2 Arena was where Joshua fought his first professional fight and won his first world title. The last time Joshua fought at the O2 Arena was when he defeated Dominic Brezeale by technical knockout in the seventh round in 2016, just two matches before his career took a leap with a resounding victory over "Dr. steel" Wladimir Klitschko.
Returning to the familiar arena with the cheers of the home audience, Joshua experienced the match not as easy as expected. He controlled the first three rounds, but played conservatively and didn't want to take risks. Fans at the O2 Arena did not hide their anxiety when Franklin scored with consecutive hits and stunned Joshua in the fourth round. In the fifth round, the 33-year-old boxer's white shorts turned pink because of his own blood and Franklin's confidence grew.
Joshua scored with a hook in the sixth round, but Franklin hit back hard in the seventh round. Here, there are strange signs of anxiety from Joshua as he holds onto his opponent, looks at the crowd and waits for the half-time bell to ring.
In the eighth round, Joshua hit hard with a series of accurate hits, but not heavy enough to make Franklin stunned. In the last four rounds, the British boxer tried to exert himself before the cheers of the home audience, but could not knock the opponent down. Anyway, Joshua completed the goal with the victory thanks to the referee points. According to the Manchester Evening News, Joshua pocketed more than 12 million USD thanks to this result, while Franklin only earned 1 million USD.
