Boxing news, rumors: Anthony Joshua set for return in April, Roy Jones Jr. to face MMA star Anthony Pettis

Two-time ex-world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua intends to return to the ring for the first time after losing in a row to Oleksandr Usyk. Joshua will face Jermain Franklin on April 1 in London.

Starting his career 22-0 and unifying three of the four recognized world boxing championships, Joshua has fallen on hard times since 2019. First, he lost his titles in June 2019 when he was knocked out by Andy Ruiz Jr. in one of the biggest upsets in heavyweight boxing history. After winning the belts in a rematch with Ruiz, Joshua defeated Kubrat Pulev ahead of his first fight with Usyk.

During their meeting in September 2021, Usyk completely outboxed Joshua, resulting in a unanimous decision victory for Usyk and once again costing Joshua his belts. The following August, they had a rematch in which Joshua had the best fight but ultimately lost by split decision.

In late 2022, Tyson Fury publicly pushed for a fight with Joshua that could have been a massive fight in England. Negotiations fell apart almost as soon as they started, with Fury fighting Derek Chisora ​​instead, and now Joshua is moving on to Franklin.

Franklin (21-1, 14 KOs) is experiencing his first career loss, a November decision loss to Dillian Whyte.

White has publicly criticized the idea of ​​Joshua fighting Franklin, suggesting that he was under the impression that his fight with Franklin came with stakes in which the winner would face Joshua. Clash between White and Joshua will do big business in the UK

“Everyone was told, all the boxing fans, that the winner of my fight with Franklin AJ, so it’s fucked up.” White told SunSport. “I would have been better off losing a fight with Franklin and getting a fight with AJ. I know DAZN needs content for their followers, but why choose to fight a low profile American who survived defeat instead of having massive British tears? I am not surprised that they chose April 1st for this battle of fools.”

Joshua’s promoter and Matchroom Boxing chairman Eddie Hearn responded to White’s criticism by suggesting that Franklin was always going to get a fight with Joshua and that a clash between Joshua and White made more sense in the summer window.

“Let’s see how Anthony Joshua plays Jermaine Franklin, and how Dillian Whyte plays Jermaine Franklin.” Hearn told iD Boxing. “We always planned this fight for the summer. Dillian Whyte was defeated, he boxed with Jermain Franklin. AJ suffered two defeats, he boxed with Jermain Franklin. we’ll see how AJ compares.”

More Boxing News

• Matchroom recently confirmed three other world title fights in their upcoming schedule. It includes The highly anticipated rematch between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano in May, as announced after Serrano’s victory over Erica Cruz on Saturday. Additionally, Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez and Christian Gonzalez will fight for the vacant WBO flyweight title on April 8, with Rodriguez looking to cement his exciting fight in 2022. In addition, on April 22, Shavkat Rakhimov will defend his IBF heavyweight title against Joe Cordina. .
• UFC star Jorge Masvidal has put together his next Gamebred boxing box, and it’s filled with interesting and slightly confusing fights. In the main event, former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis will take on 54-year-old Roy Jones Jr., who was arguably the best fighter in boxing in the 1990s and won world titles in every weight class from middleweight to heavyweight. Somehow, despite the fact that this was Pettis’ professional boxing debut and Jones was well into his 50s, Masvidal stated on The MMA Hour that the fight was supposed to be eight rounds. Also on the boxing ticket, MMA great Jose Aldo will take on former foe Jeremy Stevens, another rematch of former MMA foes with Vitor Belfort will take on Jacare Souza, and boxing and MMA veteran Anthony Taylor will take on Paul Daley, who retired from MMA competition in the past. year. . In addition to the eight rounds of the main event, all fights are scheduled as six-round professional bouts.