The billboards labelled Anthony Joshua’s return to the ring against Jermaine Franklin as a new dawn but it felt like the same old Joshua of recent times, leaving more questions than answers.
In the immediate aftermath, he insisted he was ready to face Tyson Fury next but that currently looks like a step too far. Instead, most likely is another all-British heavyweight fight in London against arch-rival Dillian Whyte.
Whyte, who was ringside at the O2 Arena on Saturday night, has made no secret of the fact that he wants a repeat of their wild 2015 grudge match, which Joshua won with a seventh-round stoppage. The duo also famously clashed as amateurs, with Joshua knocked down and handed his first loss in boxing.
And Whyte partly goaded Joshua with barbs over both his showing against Franklin and remaining motivation in the ring. He said: “I don’t know if it’s money that has made him soft or if it’s the defeats. Maybe he just doesn’t want to take risks anymore.”
The fight against Franklin ended with ugly scenes and a melee involving both camps, after which Whyte suggested that Joshua had “shown more aggression at the end of the fight”.
Joshua’s own promoter Eddie Hearn marked his fighter’s performance as no more than a seven out of 10, a showing he said was “solid but no spectacular”. It was far from a come-and-get-me plea from the Matchroom boss towards Fury. Of the prospect of that meeting, Hearn said: “Ideally, if we get the chance to make the Tyson Fury fight we will.
“We always want the biggest fights for AJ but, sensibly, I think he needs another fight first. If he is going to be fully confident under [new trainer] Derrick James, maybe he just needs to go in against a taller heavyweight first.”
Joshua is set to pack up and return to camp with James in Dallas, Texas, before too long with the pair having only spent 10 weeks together in the so-called ‘back to basics’ rebuild which fighter and trainer have both spoken of.
Despite criticisms of his latest showing, Joshua is adamant that he still has the hunger to succeed at the highest level. “I’m hungry, I’m fired,” he said. “When I get back to sparring, I know where I need to get to.
“Until I wake up and think I’m done with this s**t, I’ll still go on. There is a voice saying, ‘come on, let’s do this’. The reality is I’m still chasing the dream. I am definitely passionate about the game. I am committed until it’s done.”
