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| Date | 1 April 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | The O2 Arena, Greenwich, London, UK | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Joshua wins via 12–round unanimous decision (118–111, 117–111, 117–111) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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. [2] [3] [4] The bout was held at the O2 Arena in Greenwich, London. [2] [3] [4]
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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."
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. [5]
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. [6]
| 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 | |
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