Anthony Joshua's comeback fight: Career ending or resurrection ?

Anthony Joshua’s comeback fight: Career ending or resurrection ?

Joshua has an amazing boxing record of 24 wins to 3 losses going into this fight, and has knocked out all but two opponents in his 24 victories.

Toyosi Afolayan

●1st April 2023

Anthony Joshua became a household name in the IBO (International Boxing Organization) and IBF (International Boxing Federation) in 2016 when he won the IBF heavyweight title by defeating Charles Martin in April of that year. This was only his 16th professional fight, and he won the title by knockout in the second round.

Joshua’s popularity grew even more when he successfully defended his IBF title against Dominic Breazeale in June 2016, also by knockout in the seventh round. He went on to win the vacant WBA (Super) heavyweight title in April 2017, defeating Wladimir Klitschko in an exciting fight that was widely regarded as one of the best heavyweight bouts in recent years.

According to ESPN, the fight between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko in 2017 was the most significant heavyweight contest since Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson in 2002.

“The biggest heavyweight title fight in over a decade” according to the Associated Press. The match was not only financially successful, but it also became one of the all-time greats. The Ring magazine and the Boxing Writers Association of America named the fight between the 41-year-old Ukrainian and his 27-year-old British opponent the Fight of the Year.

As Klitschko retired from boxing immediately, young Joshua had to continue to defend the championships for another year until American Andy Ruiz Jr. handed him his first loss in June 2019. By December of that year, he had atoned for his loss, but his bad luck persisted. Instead, two successive losses against another Ukrainian, Oleksandr Usyk, sparked concerns about whether the mysterious ‘AJ’ is past his prime.

The fans’ enthusiasm waned last year when they learned that the showdown against fellow British and defending champion Tyson Fury had been called off. Joshua, though, appears to have started this year on a new game plan to recapture his lost glory.

On April 1, American heavyweight boxer Jermaine Franklin would take against Anthony Joshua at London’s O2 Arena.

Joshua’s bout against Franklin at the O2 Arena will be his first since 2015 in which no world championship is at stake. But after establishing a base in Dallas over the winter and working with new trainer Derrick James to help him get back to his best, he thinks he has reached a new level.

“I got to a certain level but I plateaued there and I now realise that if I want to achieve again, I’ve got to go to another level,” said Joshua after weighing in at a career-high 18st 3lbs (116 kg) on Friday.

“I’ve just found out that what I thought was good enough, wasn’t and sacrifice is not a bad thing because throughout this struggle I’ve had to take myself through I’ve actually found potentially better than what I had before.”

Going into this fight, Joshua boasts an impressive boxing record of 24 wins to three losses.

Joshua has made sacrifices that go as far as avoiding his family, including his son, 7, since returning to the UK two weeks ago.

“I haven’t seen them yet. I feel, no matter how much training you’ve done in camp, you could potentially let your opponent catch up by slipping in the last week or so,” Joshua added.

“I’ve kept it disciplined up until now and I will until fight night.

“Being further away has been better, being home is harder.”