By: Sean Crose
It wasn’t a particularly interesting fight. Former WBA, IBF and WBO world heavyweight Anthony Joshua stabbed, held, and essentially dominated American opponent Jermaine Franklin on Saturday at the O2 Arena in London. Ali-Frazier does not. Sure, it wasn’t Joshua-Klitshcko either, the great bout of 2017 saw Joshua dig deep and former best heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko in epic style. Joshua is back in the ring this weekend after losing two in a row to Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine. Suffice it to say, people had questions. Will Joshua return to form? Has he reached his peak? Is his mind in the right place? None of those questions were answered in Saturday’s game, which saw the Londoners win by unanimous decision.
It wasn’t a bad performance by Joshua – save for all that holds – but it certainly wasn’t the performance that made Joshua one of the most famous boxers on earth a while ago. Not for long. Back then, Joshua was considered a knockout machine, one who could beat the likes of Charles Martin in about an inning and a half. The aura of invincibility ended a few years later when Andy Ruiz stopped Joshua in stunning style. However, Joshua was able to adjust and easily overtake Ruiz in their rematch six months later. That didn’t happen with Joshua’s rematch with Usyk last year. Once again, the famous Englishman was clearly defeated.
With that in mind, it’s worth considering the possibility that Franklin was simply a much better opponent than he was initially credited with. No doubt Joshua was able to rock his man this past weekend. Surely some of those punches would send a lesser fighter to the ground. Perhaps Franklin was simply an individual who was not easily offended. If that’s the case, it’s hard to argue that Joshua’s work at O2 is particularly disappointing.
Again, on Saturday, though, there’s no way of knowing if Joshua will “come back.” While it’s clear that Usyk has his number, no one knows for sure how Joshua can go up to the likes of Tyson Fury or Deontay Wilder (although fans and analysts can certainly guess. Okay). Time will surely tell the story, but in the meantime it will be interesting to see who Joshua fights next. After all, his next opponent choice will show how comfortable Joshua and his team are at the prospect of once again going up against top opponents.
