JoshuaFranklin – BOXINGWRITER.CO.UK

Article first appeared at BigFightWeekend.com

As Anthony Joshua stole glances toward his corner, blood seeping from his nose and his arms wrapped around the heaving shoulders of Jermaine Franklin, it was easy to see the familiar signs of confusion and anxiety. The fighter within Joshua, the one with grit and innocence who deployed his physical gifts and youthful vigour to climb the heavyweight mountain, is gone. He was drowned in the deep waters of fights he won and the crashing waves of the fights he lost.

The selection of Franklin was deliberate. Conspicuously so. Famous only for a narrow loss, lacking in single punch power and with modest mobility, Jermaine Franklin was booked to huff and puff, present manageable offence and provide a sellable knockout to the growing crowd of doubters.

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Article first appeared on Bookmakers.com

There will be a moment on Saturday night, beneath the ‘big tent’ roof of the 02 Arena, London, when the bookmakers‘ favorite, and former two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua will discover whether his appetite for boxing truly remains. The platitudes of those leaning from the windows of the gravy train will evaporate beneath the glare of the lights and he will be alone, the superficiality of his latest reinvention and the whispers of the fortune he has compiled questioning his desire. His magnificent physique will offer little beyond a chiseled defence against a tide of self-doubt and ebbing motivation but is still expected to prove sufficient to overcome Jermaine Franklin and secure a lucrative, perhaps era-defining fight with Tyson Fury. If such seemingly Utopian narratives are to be indulged.

Fans hope Joshua will be able to rediscover a lost purpose and unfurl his natural, aggressive style from the layers of over-observed psycho-babble he has subverted it with. His opponent does not represent his toughest test, either proportionally or in terms of talent but such is the enigmatic form Joshua has displayed over the past four years, that every fight carries more risk than resumes and reputations insist they should.

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