Anthony Joshua vs. Jermaine Franklin Fight Card, Odds, & Predictions

The return fight of Anthony Joshua (24-3) at the O2 Arena in London, goes down this Saturday, April 1, where he faces an up-and-coming heavyweight contender Jermaine Franklin (21-1) in a top-level fight to increase their chances in the boxing odds of securing a title shot against current world title holders Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury.

#JoshuaFranklin FIGHT WEEK is officially underway 👏

Watch @AnthonyJoshua vs. @JermaineFrankl6 LIVE on https://t.co/FoiaUucafv on April 1 😤 pic.twitter.com/DaplTDqpYl

— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) March 27, 2023

Being the former two-time unified heavyweight world champion, Joshua carries the heavy favorite role in boxing betting odds at -1000 against Franklin, who is tagged as the overwhelming underdog at +600, despite having only one loss in his professional career so far in 22 bouts, while the former already has three defeats in his record.

Additionally, both boxers are coming off losses in their previous fights, with Joshua sustaining a split decision loss to Usyk in August 2022 and Franklin absorbing a majority decision result from Dillian Whyte in November 2022. A victory for either man will set them up for a high-profile match in the succeeding months.

Anthony Joshua Recent Fight Results

After winning the 2012 Gold medal in the super heavyweight division at the London games, Anthony Joshua made his professional debut in October 2013 against Emanuele Leo. He scored an opening TKO to send an astounding shockwave to the division that he will be a future champion.

The boxer out of Watford, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, added seven more TKO/KO victories by stopping Paul Butlin, Hrvoje Kisicek, Dorian Darch, Hector Alfredo Avila, Matt Legg, Matt Skelton, and Konstantin Airich to extend his perfect record to eight. In October 2014, Joshua was matched with Denis Bakhtov for the vacant WBC International Heavyweight title.

He took down Bakhtov in two rounds to capture his first title in the paid ranks. “AJ” continued his immaculate run and 100% finishing rate with three more victories over Michael Sprott, Jason Gavern, and Raphael Zumbano before defending his WBC International Heavyweight title against Kevin Johnson in May 2015 via second-round TKO.

It was only a matter of time before Joshua added more titles to his collection as he fought Gary Cornish in September 2015 and Dillian Whyte in December 2015 for the vacant Commonwealth Boxing Council Heavyweight and BBBofC British Heavyweight titles. The 33-year-old scored stoppage wins over them, a first-round TKO of Cornish and a seventh-round TKO of Whyte.

Because of this perfect record, Joshua finally earned his first major world title in April 2016 against Charles Martin for the IBF World Heavyweight title. The Englishman fully maximized the opportunity and knocked out Martin within two rounds. He instantly defended this belt twice over Dominic Breazeale and Eric Molina via seventh and third-round TKO.

In April 2017, Joshua was pitted against heavyweight great Wladimir Klitschko as the IBF World Heavyweight, IBO World Heavyweight, and WBA Super Heavyweight titles were on the line for this gigantic showdown. He outclassed Klitschko and got the job done with an 11th-round TKO victory to formally establish his name in the boxing community.

Six months later, Joshua successfully defended these three belts with a beating of Carlos Takam in October 2017 on his way to a 10th-round TKO win. He unified the heavyweight division with a lopsided unanimous decision victory against Joseph Parker in March 2018, where he collected the WBO World Heavyweight title.

Following this unification, he TKO’ed Alexander Povetkin in September 2018 before Andy Ruiz snapped his winning streak and dethroned him in June 2019 with a huge seventh-round TKO loss. It was Joshua’s first taste of defeat. The two figured in an immediate rematch in December 2019, and AJ reclaimed his titles with a masterful unanimous decision over Ruiz.

A year later, in December 2020, Joshua once again fended off the title challenge from Kubrat Pulev via a ninth-round knockout. Unfortunately, that was his last pro win as he dropped his two fights to Oleksandr Uysk in their mega showdowns. In the first meeting, Usyk won unanimously, while the second one resulted in a much closer split decision.

Jermaine Franklin Recent Fight Results

Jermain Franklin’s major amateur achievements were becoming a finalist in the National Golden Gloves in 2013 and winning the tournament in 2014. After these stints in the unpaid ranks, Franklin turned pro in April 2015 and had a dream start by stopping Deshawn Jenkins via first-round TKO.

From then on, he racked up win after win and strung up 19 consecutive victories, including 13 TKO/KOs, to make his name known in the boxing scene. Following his unanimous decision over Pavel Sour in October 2019, the “989 Assassin” had a two-year layoff from the sport.

In May 2022, the Saginaw, Michigan, native returned triumphantly from his sabbatical with a fifth-round TKO of Rodney Moore. This victory set him up for a titanic clash with Dillian Whyte in November 2022, but Franklin was handed a majority decision loss to absorb his maiden professional defeat in 22 fights. He looks to score a massive upset against Joshua this Saturday.

Anthony Joshua vs. Jermaine Franklin: Tale of the Tape

Anthony Joshua vs. Jermaine Franklin: Fight Analysis

Joshua will be hulking Franklin with his four inches of height and five inches of reach advantage with his 6-foot-6 frame and 82 inches of reach against the latter’s 6-foot-2 height and 77 inches of reach. However, Franklin will enjoy a four-year youth edge at just 29 compared to Joshua, who is already 33.

The power of these boxers is undeniable; after all, they are two of the top names in the heavyweight division today, backed by their high finishing rate of 81% (for Joshua) and 64% (for Franklin). Record-wise, the American have only sustained one loss so far, while England’s pride already has three.

Despite having a greater number of losses in his record, Joshua has fought several top names in the weight class, while Franklin was only able to fight one notable name in Whyte, where he was defeated. This is one of the primary reasons why oddsmakers have put a large discrepancy among them in the betting lines.

Stylistically, both boxers’ trademark punch comes from their right hand as both stand in orthodox. Joshua sets this power shot through his forward-pressure and volume punches, while Franklin uses his quick left jabs to perfect-time his atomic right-hand punch. It’s a matter of who will get hit first by their damaging punches, but Joshua’s wealth of experience fighting the best should be enough to propel him to victory.

Anthony Joshua vs. Jermaine Franklin: Date and Start Time

April 1, 2023, 2:30 p.m. PT

April 1, 2023, 4:30 p.m. CT

April 1, 2023, 5:30 p.m. ET

Anthony Joshua vs. Jermaine Franklin: Fight Prediction

Official Prediction: TKO/KO victory for Anthony Joshua.

See the entire Anthony Joshua vs. Jermaine Franklin odds and wagers here.