Anthony Joshua will return to the ring this weekend for the first time since losing back-to-back fights to Oleksandr Usyk and his comeback clash will be live on talkSPORT.
Joshua will take on American heavyweight Jermaine Franklin in London as he searches for his first win since 2020.
‘AJ’ has lost three of his last five fights but he’ll be hoping to get back to his best and repair his reputation against Franklin.
‘989 Assassin’ is coming off the back of a controversial defeat to Dillian Whyte with the American claiming he was ‘robbed’ by the judges.
That fight was his first in the UK and for his second English bout, he is now set to take on the former two-time heavyweight world champion Joshua.
Joshua vs Franklin: Date and start time
This 12-round heavyweight bout will take place on Saturday, April 1.
It is being held at The O2 Arena in London, a venue that Joshua has a 7-0 record at.
The undercard is set to get underway at 6pm with the main event clash expected at around 10:30pm.
Joshua vs Franklin: talkSPORT coverage
talkSPORT will have live coverage of the fight.
Our team includes former boxer Spencer Oliver, Adam Catterall, Gareth A Davies and match commentator Andy Clarke, who will deliver punch-by-punch commentary of every moment live from London.
Coverage of the undercard will begin at 7.30 over on TalkSPORT2 before switching over to TalkSPORT for the main event at 9PM.
talkSPORT.com will be running a live blog as well.
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Joshua vs Franklin: TV channel and live stream
It will be shown live on DAZN with coverage beginning at 7pm.
Fans can sign up to DAZN for only £9.99 per month to watch the bout live.
More details here.
Joshua vs Franklin: Undercard
Subject to change
- Main event: Anthony Joshua vs Jermaine Franklin
- Matteo Signani vs Felix Cash
- Austin Williams vs River Wilson-Bent
- Fabio Wardley vs Michael Polite Coffie
- Campbell Hatton vs Louis Fielding
- Jordan Flynn vs Kane Baker
- John Hedges vs Daniel Bocianski
- Ziyad Almaayouf vs TBA
- Peter Kadiru vs TBA
- Juergen Uldedaj vs TBA
Joshua vs Franklin: What has been said?
Joshua told talkSPORT: “Are we going to see something different?
“You can’t really say that, I’ll be lying to you if I was like, ‘I’m going to do this, I’m going to come out southpaw…’
“It’s all bulls***, I’m going to go in there and do what the f*** I do and I’m going to get this win. That’s what I’m focusing on.
“Let me go in there and do my job, I’m going to do my best, I’m not going to make it over complicated, I’m a good fighter.
“I’ve got a f****** good jab, good defence, good right hand, good uppercut, and I’ll find the gaps needed to break my opponent down.”
Mark Robinson/Matchroom
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn told talkSPORT: “I’m a promoter and I’m hyping the fight, but at the same time I am nervous.
“He’s coming off two defeats, albeit to Oleksandr Usyk, we saw emotionally the position he was in because he wanted to win so badly.
“He’s got a new trainer and he’s taken himself to Dallas with a very small team to work his absolute socks off.
“He’s lost two fights on the bounce, he’s no longer a world champion, of course his star has fallen.
“But he’s a man who in my opinion is an elite heavyweight, he’s a top three heavyweight, who wants to comeback and regain his heavyweight world title.
“He’s the purest individual, he’s the hardest worker, he makes more sacrifices and commitments than any athlete I’ve ever seen and he’s my mate, so I’m so pumped for his return.
“I want him to go in there and show people how good he is.
“I want him to believe in himself, I want him to enjoy life and I want him to appreciate what he’s achieved and I want him to go in there and make a statement.”
Showdown Saturday on talkSPORT
On Saturday 1 April, it’s all kicking off on talkSPORT.
12:30pm: Starting the day, Man City host Liverpool in a key Premier League game.
3pm: Crystal Palace vs Leicester sees the return of Roy Hodgson to the Selhurst Park dugout.
7pm: Build-up begins for the heavyweight showdown between Anthony Joshua and Jermaine Franklin as AJ starts his route back to the top.
What. A. Day.
You can tune in to talkSPORT via our free online streaming service at talkSPORT.com, DAB digital radio, download the talkSPORT app, or ask your smart speaker to play talkSPORT or talkSPORT 2. talkSPORT is also widely available across the UK on 1089 or 1053 AM.
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Source: News