Monsurat
After a 12-round bout, Joshua, scored his first win since 2020 after successive defeats by Ukrainian war hero, Oleksandr Usyk.
The British-Nigerian fighter made an epic comeback in front of a home crowd at the London 02 Arena with two judges scoring the fight 117-111 and one scoring 118-111.
Speaking to 5 Live Boxing Joshua said “No knockout, so no good. It is a brutal sport, but knockouts are everything. I’m not too happy. I could have thrown more shots, and I should have, no excuses. But I will. That is part of coming back, you have to be your own biggest critic.”
This win, is the 25th for Joshua in 28 professional fights since turning professional in 2013. It is the second defeat for Franklin, 29, having lost to Dillian Whyte in November.
In the first round, Joshua struck Franklin’s face with a jab, with quick feet to stay out of range of any advances. Joshua landed a sharp hook into Franklin’s side in the second round, but by the third he missed the right and Franklin responded by charging him down. After the 12th round, Joshua’s hand was raised in victory.
However, a scuffle broke out in the ring after the final bell and the boxers and their corners clashed briefly before they were separated. Speaking after normalcy had been restored, Joshua said “you know me, I like to provide for the fans. I know who the fans want. Who do the fans want? They said Fury? The ball is in his court, I will 100 per cent be honored to compete for the WBC heavyweight champion of the world.”
Commenting on the clash after the fight, he apologized to those watching. He said “inside the ring, it is a different energy so I apologize to those watching.”
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