Franklin Looking to Cause Huge Upset Against Joshua

Jermaine Franklin has a big opportunity to make a name for himself in the heavyweight division when he takes on former world champion Anthony Joshua. Success against the British boxer could put him a step closer to a world title shot.

Franklin has won 21 of his 22 fights as a professional. His only defeat came in his last appearance in the ring when he lost on points to Dillian Whyte in London. He returns to the capital of England hoping for a different result this time.

American Boxer The Outsider in Fight Odds

The man who is nicknamed the 898 Assassin is the underdog in the betting for the heavyweight clash at the O2 Arena at +600. Those who are placing a bet on Anthony Joshua will be getting odds of just -1200, as he is the long odds-on favourite.

Franklin will be fully aware of some of the biggest upsets in history in the history division. One of those involved Joshua when he was defeated by Andy Ruiz Jr in New York in 2019 in the seventh round. Mike Tyson was also famously beaten by Buster Douglas in 1990 when Iron Mike was a strong favourite.

The American has won 14 of his 21 victories by stoppage, so he has shown he has the power to hurt opponents in the ring. He stopped Cory Phelps in the first round in 2017, the following year he needed just eight rounds to defeat Ed Fountain, while more recently, it took him five rounds to get the better of Rodney Moore. His unbeaten record went against Whyte, he had a lot of success in that bout. One of the judges scored it 115-115 as a draw, while the other two judges gave a narrow decision to the home fighter.

Jermaine Franklin is not concerned by Anthony Joshua's powerhttps://t.co/QtP9AJpYa8

— Mirror Fighting (@MirrorFighting) March 28, 2023

Whyte is one of the highest-ranked boxers in the heavyweight division, so he did his reputation no harm at all. The experience of that fight should help him in his preparation for a similar opponent again.

Joshua Needs to Bounce Back Too

This fight is also very important in Joshua's career, as he enters the contest on the back of two consecutive defeats. That’s the first time it has happened in his career. He suffered back-to-back losses to Oleksandr Usyk.

Joshua lost his WBA (Super), IBF, and WBO titles to the Ukrainian in 2021. A year later he took up the rematch which was in their contract, and the result of that fight was the same, with Usyk prevailing on points.

AJ will be hoping to get another world title shot in 2023, either with Usyk or fellow British boxer Tyson Fury. He will need to put on a good performance against Franklin to get that. Defeat would push him further down the pecking order in the division.

Anthony Joshua beats Pulev by KO9. Congratulations #AndStill WBA Heavyweight Super Champion @anthonyfjoshua #Boxing #Boxeo #WBA #WBABoxing #JoshuaPulev pic.twitter.com/uZQTk4yyzg

— WBA Boxing (@WBABoxing) December 12, 2020

The 33-year-old has had some huge wins in his career, with successes coming against Wladimir Klitschko, Kubrat Pulev, Joseph Parker, Alexander Povetkin, and Whyte. This fight will say a lot about the motivation Joshua still has for the sport. If Joshua does enter the ring vulnerable on the back of those two defeats, Franklin will be hoping to take advantage of it to cause one of the biggest upsets of the year in boxing.