Former two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua and Jermaine Franklin faced off today at the final press conference ahead of Saturday’s action at The O2 in London, shown live worldwide on DAZN.
Anthony Joshua: “The goal is not to make it back to the corner, the goal is to take him out…the more he talks, the bigger grave he digs for himself but it is what it is. I could say a lot of things about him but I respect my opponent. It is not for me to talk, it is for you to do all the talking and for me to do my job on Saturday. That is really honestly what I am focused on from round one to round 12. I am prepared for a 12-rounder but I do believe in my ability, my counter-punching and all that type of stuff to definitely put a dent in Jermaine. But I am not here to talk, I am here to do what I have to do because I really want to win.”
Jermaine Franklin: “We had more time to prepare for this fight so I’m more ready and I’m more in shape. I’m just ready to let the fireworks go…I’m going to get the win by any means possible. But if I can put him on his ass then that’s what I’m going to try to do. Anything is possible. I come from a place with not a lot of possibilities, and I made it this far so anything is possible. My passion for the sport, my team and my family; that’s all the motivation I need. I believe my hands get raised at the end of the fight.”
Franklin doing a good job promoting this fight since he is riding on the confidence train and needs to boost his mental ability/focus for a victory. However, let’s look at reality and really see what this fight is all about. Joshua cherry-picked Franklin as a test fight to boost his confidence, win, and get back on track for bigger and better goals. Franklin could get lucky and drop Joshua with an unorthodox punch. I am realistic that Joshua gets some rounds in “sparring” and then produces the KO in the later rounds.
AJ is not the same guy that won the championship. He has too much muscle and fades down the stretch. If Franklin can make it to round 9 he has a good chance to drown him.
Rumor has it Scooby Doo is franklin’s cut man
Hey, why not! Would make it a fun weekend of going to the fights :)!
If Joshua loses this fight he will have 3 losses in a row He will have to wait for many years to get a title shot again I think he will win by TKO He owes it to himself
No doubt Joshua wins this fight by KO. He honestly didn’t do that bad in the second Usyk fight. Franklin is no Usyk and will be there to be hit. If Joshua wants, I don’t see this fight going past 5 rounds. However, I’d love to see Franklin win and shake things up.
Recon Franklin surprises Joshua at the beginning of the fight at how willing he is to bring it on, but then Franklin finds himself surprised when he finds himself on the canvas. Franklin is just so small in comparison to Joshua, is not a heavy puncher, could not even deal with a really now fading Whyte, surely an easy fight for Joshua.
Lol Franklin weighs more than Joshua. Do you even watch boxing kid? Being taller than somebody doesn’t make you bigger. It means you are taller.
Also Usyk isn’t a heavy puncher and is a blown up cruiser weight and he had Joshua hurt. Joshua has a fragile chin and anybody can hurt him.
That being said Joshua should beat Franklin. Franklin couldn’t even beat a faded Dillian Whyte who was never good to began with.
Size, as in size, not weight. Been following and watching boxing since the 1970’s, since when you been following boxing smartass?
I’ve been following boxn sice greecian empire Olympics times so your new to the boxn game son
Joshua 255.4, Franklin 234.12, did you watch the weigh in smartass Harry Sachs?
What a thrill if we have an upset!!
I wouldnt mind seeing Joshua vs Dubois, Ortiz, Joyce. If Joshua is looking to cash out, he can fight Fury but that fight will be boring and another loss for Joshua.
I hope that Franklin puts an end to the career of the overhyped AJ once and for all.