Anthony Joshua returns to his old stomping ground for the first step of his rebuilding process on Saturday night, live on DAZN.

With seven stoppage wins from as many appearances at London’s O2 Arena, Joshua made a real habit of knocking people out at the Greenwich venue on his way to the top and he is looking to recapture that destructive form against Jermaine Franklin.

‘AJ’ bids to regain the winning thread after back-to-back defeats to Oleksandr Usyk, who outboxed and outfoxed British boxing’s golden boy to record a brace of clear decision victories.

Joshua seeking redemption in London

That means, for the first time in 13 fights, Joshua (24-3) finds himself in a contest with no world title on the line and there will be no such baubles on his horizon anytime soon should he suffer defeat again here. Following those two losses and with him now being 33 years old, the big question is what does Joshua have left?

As devastating as the two Usyk defeats were for Joshua, it would be a harsh to suggest he is a spent force at world level solely based on those two losses. The decision to get in a boxing match with the master boxer in the first Usyk fight proved futile and while he performed better in the return, the outcome was just the same as Usyk’s skills and speed won the day again.

Joshua came up against arguably the best technician in the game right now and although he was unable to impose his size and strength on the super-skilled smaller man, there was no disgrace in losing to such a special talent.

The good news for Joshua fans is that Franklin could hardly be more different to Usyk and looks tailor-made for the home fighter to shine against. While Joshua was reduced to single shots by Usyk’s constant movement, feinting and trickery from the southpaw stance, the orthodox Franklin has slow feet and presents a much more stationary target.

Franklin gets this opportunity on the back of losing a contentious decision to Dillian Whyte in November. Having started as a big underdog that night, the American asked serious questions of Whyte as he put his shots together well and showed decent hand speed, as well as plenty of heart.

However, Whyte still seemed to be feeling the effects of his brutal knockout to Tyson Fury seven months earlier and looked a long way removed from his peak. The fight was fought at a slow pace and despite landing several power shots, Franklin never really appeared to hurt Whyte and seemed to tire badly late on.

That was Franklin’s first defeat in 21 outings but he hardly looked great before that against moderate opponents such as Rydell Booker, Jerry Forrest and Pavel Sour, all of whom he outpointed in 2019. With his best effort coming in defeat to a former Joshua victim, it’s tough to make a case for Franklin pulling off a 9/1 shock – even the prospect of him raising his game on the biggest night of his life. This shouldn’t be about if Joshua wins, but a case of how he looks in doing so and that is reflected in his price of 1/10.

AJ approach key to method of victory

Having hired Robert Garcia for the Usyk rematch, Joshua has changed trainers once again as he now teams up with Derrick James. The former Ring Magazine Trainer of the Year needs no introduction in the boxing world, having guided the undefeated Errol Spence Jr to unified welterweight champion status and Jermell Charlo to become the undisputed light middleweight king.

After flying Garcia into England last year, Joshua has opted to go to his trainer’s territory this time and set up camp in Texas. Also, he is no longer the best – or even the second best – fighter in his gym and those factors could help rekindle the spark and challenger mindset in Joshua.

The call from the fans is for ‘old school’ Joshua to return and for him to once again become the wrecking machine that bludgeoned his way up the professional ranks after winning Olympic gold. He walked through Charles Martin (KO2) when winning his first world title at this same arena in 2016, before doing similar to fellow Americans Dominic Breazeale (TKO7) and Eric Molina (TKO3) in his first two defences. Franklin is a similar class of opponent to those compatriots of his and a similar outcome can be expected from Joshua if he can rediscover that seek-and-destroy approach.

However, Joshua had been in a transitional period in terms of his fighting style long before he met Usyk. He was more cautious following his up-and-down thriller with Wladimir Klitschko in 2017 and even more so after he was stopped by Andy Ruiz the following year. The Watford native became more of a boxer-puncher who took less risks and, while arguably a more rounded fighter, he certainly wasn’t as destructive. With that in mind, is it too much to expect Joshua to seamlessly switch back to his old, gung-ho ways of his mid-20s?

Possibly so, especially with plenty of questions over where Joshua is mentally following three defeats from his last five outings. His meltdown in the ring after the Usyk rematch was hard to watch and he needs a confidence-boosting knockout here, which is why a man nowhere near the world’s top 10 has been chosen for the comeback of Britain’s biggest boxing star.

That said, Joshua may not need to be at his best to dispatch of Franklin in good style and the favourite is just 3/10 to register the 23rd stoppage of his career. That leads us to look at the round group betting, where Joshua in rounds 1-6 is 13/8 (as short as evens) and the prospect of that bet landing would be enhanced if Franklin, who knows he has nothing to lose, comes out swinging from the first bell. That may force Joshua into a fight early doors, but it must be noted that the underdog wasn’t too aggressive in the first quarter against Whyte.

It is the same price for Joshua to do the business in rounds 7-12, which may tempt in those believing he will stick with his boxing rather than revert to brawling. I think it may be something in between, with AJ being more assertive but not taking too many risks in the opening sessions as he looks to work his way into the fight. Once he finds his range, it could be target practice for the favourite and, as game as Franklin is, the American may succumb to the heavy artillery coming in his direction around the halfway point.

JOSHUA TO WIN IN ROUNDS 5-8 is the call at 15/8, before he gets on the microphone and announces his return to the winner’s enclosure by calling out Tyson Fury. Then the now-tiresome back-and-forth between the pair will begin all over again.

Joshua’s first fight on DAZN is also his first non-PPV bout in many years and it’s clear to see where all the money for this show has gone, as the undercard is very poor for a big British fight night.

Classy Ramirez set for tough workout

However, there is action on Sky Sports from America in the early hours of Sunday morning worth staying up for as Robeisy Ramirez takes on Isaac Dogboe for the vacant WBO featherweight title.

Ramirez was brilliant in winning two Olympic gold medals for Cuba before turning over in 2019 and, after bizarrely losing his first fight, he has been sensational in subsequently winning 11 on the bounce (seven early).

Despite being a 1/7 favourite, this is no ‘gimme’ for Ramirez as he goes up against the tough-as-teak Dogboe, a former super bantamweight champion whose only two defeats in 26 fights came against the excellent Emanuel Navarrete. Dogboe lost his title via a decision to the big-punching Mexican, before his corner threw the towel in with less than a minute remaining of their rematch in 2019.

Ramirez is a joy to watch and his flashy skills can prove too much here, but if Dogboe can go almost 24 rounds with Navarrete, then it would be some going for the Cuban to get the stoppage here. Take RAMIREZ TO WIN BY DECISION at 5/4 in an entertaining contest.

Posted at 1000 GMT on 31/03/23

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