Anthony Joshua vs. Jermaine Franklin

Anthony Joshua vs Jermaine Franklin, billed as New Dawn was a heavyweight boxing match contested between former two-time unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua and Jermaine Franklin. The bout was held at the O2 Arena in Greenwich, London.

New Dawn

Date	1 April 2023
Venue	The O2 Arena, Greenwich, London, UK
Tale of the tape
Boxer Anthony Joshua Jermaine Franklin Nickname "AJ" "989 Assassin" Hometown Watford, Hertfordshire, UK Saginaw, Michigan, US Pre-fight record 24–3 (22 KOs) 21–1 (14 KOs) Age 33 years, 5 months 29 years, 5 months Height 6 ft 6 in (198 cm) 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) Weight 255 lb (116 kg) 234 lb (106 kg) Style Orthodox Orthodox Recognition WBA/The Ring No. 3 Ranked Heavyweight IBF/TBRB No. 4 Ranked Heavyweight WBC/WBO No. 5 Ranked Heavyweight Former 2 time unified heavyweight champion WBC No. 25 Ranked Heavyweight
Result
Joshua wins via 12–round unanimous decision (118–111, 117–111, 117–111)

Background

Following Joshua's back-to-back losses to Oleksandr Usyk, the latter in August of 2022 in Saudi Arabia, Tyson Fury called out Anthony Joshua for a fight in November or December of that same year. However, the fight failed to come to fruition, due to sponsorship issues. Franklin fought Dillian Whyte at Wembley Arena in London, England on November 26, 2022. Whyte won by majority decision, although the decision of that fight was controversial with many scoring the fight as a draw or for Franklin winning.

On 6 February 2023, it was officially announced that Joshua would be returning to the ring on 1 April at The O2 Arena against Franklin. The fight would mark the first fight as part of his exclusive five-year deal with sports streaming service DAZN.

In the first pre-fight press conference on 9 February, Joshua announced his new partnership with American trainer Derrick James, as well as being questioned by his promoter Eddie Hearn on his motivation for fighting. Joshua answered by repeatedly stating, "Money, money, money", before Hearn had finished asking the question, before further elaborating: “I like making money. Straight up. Like, this is a prize fighting sport."

The fight

Joshua won a comprehensive points victory with two judges scoring it 117–111 and third 118–111, giving him his first win in two years.

Aftermath

After the fight Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn said "There may be an opportunity to do the Tyson Fury fight next. If it is there, it'll be difficult for AJ not to take it. He may think he will never get it. The sensible thing is to have another fight with Derrick James to improve; Dillian Whyte is a great option.

Fight card

Weight Class		vs.		Method	Round	Time	Notes
Main Card
Heavyweight	Anthony Joshua	def.	Jermaine Franklin	UD	12/12
Heavyweight	Fabio Wardley	def.	Michael Polite Coffie	TKO	4/10	0:45	Note 1
Flyweight	Galal Yafai	def.	Moisés Calleros	TKO	4/10	0:44
Welterweight	Campbell Hatton	def.	Louis Fielding	KO	1/8	1:29
Middleweight	Austin Williams	def.	River Wilson-Bent	TKO	8/10	1:01
Before The Bell Preliminary Card
Light heavyweight	John Hedges	def.	Daniel Bocianski	PTS	8/8
Super featherweight	Ziyad Almaayouf	def.	Georgi Velichkov	PTS	4/4
Super featherweight	Jordan Flynn	def.	Kane Baker	PTS	8/8
Cruiserweight	Benoit Huber	def.	Juergen Uldedaj	PTS	8/8
Heavyweight	Peter Kadiru	def.	Alen Lauriolle	RTD	1/4	3:00

^Note 1 For WBA Continental heavyweight title