Two-time former unified world heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua, made a huge stride to regain his world heavyweight titles by beating Otto Wallin inside the distance on Saturday, 23 December 2023 at the Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The former British heavyweight champion overwhelmed Wallin, fulfilling his own part of a prior arrangement with the expectation of facing former WBC heavyweight champion, Deontay Wilder next in a super fight in March 2024.
But the fight is not likely to happen as Wilder failed to keep his own side of the bargain by losing to Joseph Parker. The Bronze Bomber performed way below expectations, with the New Zealander hurting him badly in the eighth round. The judges awarded Parker, a former WBO heavyweight champion, a unanimous decision, scoring it 118-111, 118-110 and 120-108.
Joshua returned to winning ways on 1 April 2023 at the 02 Arena in Greenwich, London after losing his WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles to Oleksandr Usyk in September 2021 in Saudi Arabia and his failure to regain the titles from the Ukrainian in a rematch in August 2022. Before the April fight, the WBC heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury, had called Joshua out for a fight, but the fight did not materialize due to sponsorship issues. In February 2023, it was officially announced that Joshua would be facing American Jermaine Franklin at the O2 Arena. Franklin, nicknamed 989 Assassin, had won all but one of his 22 professional fights, the solitary loss being his last bout against the British boxer, Dillian Whyte.
Joshua’s win against Franklin was his first in more than two years, having lost consecutive bouts to Usyk. At the weigh-in, Joshua scaled 255Ib, the heaviest he had ever been in a professional career, while Franklin weighed 234Ib, over 22Ibs lighter than his previous fight against Whyte. Before the fight, Joshua’s supporters had expected the British fighter to overwhelm Franklin and probably win by knockout. But the American underdog gave the former champion a run for his money by lasting the 12 full rounds.
Joshua, trying to avoid potential dangers, initiated constant clinches on the night. His plan was to batter Franklin into submission, but the American managed to keep himself out of harm’s way. Joshua made use of jabs to harass his opponent and set up heavier punches with his right hand while looking for a knockout that never came throughout the night. Joshua eventually prevailed via unanimous decision, with judges’ scorecards of 117-111 (twice) and 118-111 in his favour. After the final bell, a scuffle broke out between the two boxers, coming close to brawling. The clash was initiated by Joshua, who had tapped Franklin in the back of his head after the American had turned his back to walk away.
In his post-fight interview, Joshua said: “It was important to win. Jermaine has a good duck-and-dive style, somebody else from Britain will probably knock him out. I respect him, he did well. I should have knocked him out but it is done. On to the next. He is here to prove himself, not roll over. I wish I could have knocked him out.”
On 6 July 2023, a rematch of the 12 December 2015 bout between Joshua and Whyte was announced to be held in London. This was cancelled on 5 August 2023, after Whyte returned a positive drug test conducted by the voluntary anti-doping agency. On 8 August 2023, Robert Helenius was announced as the replacement for Whyte, with the bout taking place on the originally scheduled date of 12 August 2023. Joshua, who was jeered by fans during the bout, knocked out the Finnish boxer with one punch in round seven.
Speaking in the ring after his knockout victory, Joshua said: “People need to leave me alone, let me breathe a bit. Helenius, I told him, please come again. He’s got talent. He will cause a lot of people problems, credit to him for saving the show. I’ll see you again soon, hopefully two more times this year. I need to stay busy. My back’s gone, is there a doctor in here? I’m carrying this heavyweight division to the top.”
In his 23 December fight, Joshua left a vivid impression of his ability to win back his titles as he overpowered Wallin from the first round of the bout before his corner pulled him out of the fight at the end of the fifth round. The Watford-born fighter, who called the win “just another fight” started out with great power and strength, firing on all cylinders before Wallin’s corner decided to pull him out of the context.
The 2012 Olympic gold medallist said: “I heard that Deontay lost. So what? He’ll be back. Deontay, everything that he said about me, I could rip him apart right now, but I’m going to take the higher ground. You can come back. If he wanted to, he can come back. I’m sure everyone still wants to see that fight.”
On his three wins this year, the two-time IBO champion said: “We’ve got bigger ambitions. As I said to Louis Theroux, we don’t celebrate when we win these fights, we celebrate when we win titles.”
Anthony Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn praised the former Commonwealth champion, saying that he is the best heavyweight in the world. “I believe Joshua is the best heavyweight in the world. That was a punch-perfect performance tonight. A stunning performance. One that says he is back. With this mindsight in this team, I think he is unbeatable. 2024 will be massive for him.”
References:
- Ellis, Jordan 23 0ctober 2023 “ ’They want a mega card’— Anthony Joshua claims he could fight Deontay Wilder on same night as Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk in April”
- “Anthony Joshua to fight Jermaine Franklin in April” 6 February 2023 DAZN News UK
- “Anthony Joshua honest on motivation for Jermaine Franklin bout” 9 February 2023 The Independent
Also read: Is AJ (Anthony Joshua) Back?
