What lies ahead for Anthony Joshua before heavyweight comeback fight?

It has been just over two years since one of British boxing's superstars Anthony Joshua last won a fight. His knockout victory over Kubrat Pulev in December 2020 feels like a very distant memory at this point as back-to-back world-title fight defeats to Ukrainian mastermind Oleksandr Usyk followed.

Joshua's upcoming heavyweight bout with America's Jermaine Franklin on April 1^st at the O2 Arena in London is his chance to build up some forward momentum in his career again. The 33-year-old from Watford will be hoping a big victory here can set him on the way to competing for world titles again.

Ever since Joshua suffered a hugely shocking defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr in June 2019 on his US debut in New York, there have been doubts over his long-term ambitions of dominating the heavyweight division. His TKO loss to Ruiz Jr was truly one of the biggest upsets in boxing history and psychologically would have been a callous place to recover from.

He did manage to avenge that loss to Ruiz Jr in a rematch six months later in Saudi Arabia and regain his WBA (Super), IBF, WBO AND IBO heavyweight title belts. However, the first of two fights against Usyk saw him get outclassed and lose the belts again and fall back onto a losing streak.

Joshua did improve for the second bout in Saudi Arabia as he lost on a split decision compared to a unanimous decision the first time around, but it still was not nearly enough to overcome Usyk.

Much of the talk after the rematch was focused on Joshua's behaviour after the final bell as he threw Usyk's belts and got hold of the television broadcaster's microphone to go on an emotional rant.

The ever-continuing clamour for Joshua to fight fellow heavyweight Brit Tyson Fury will not go away. However, the possibility of the two facing off feels a distant way away right now. Joshua famously called out Fury on the microphone immediately in the ring after he defeated Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley Stadium in 2017.

The two allegedly came close to fighting in 2021 but Fury had to honour a rematch clause and a third fight with America's Deontay Wilder. A fight now between Joshua and Fury would not have near the same level of hype as a few years ago and Joshua is arguably not ready to take on someone of Fury's level right now.

Unbeaten WBC champion Fury is looking beyond Joshua as he and Usyk look to get a fight on to determine who will be the undisputed world heavyweight champion.

Joshua's upcoming bout against Franklin is not expected to be a hugely challenging fight as it is more so about returning to form, staying active and putting those losses to Usyk behind him.

However, besides an expected win, a convincing performance should be targeted as Joshua needs to showcase to the boxing world that he still has the quality to compete for a world title and go up against Fury, Usyk and possibly Wilder.

Due to the fact that Joshua only took up boxing at the age of 18, later than most in the sport, he has had to learn the fundamentals of the sport along the way in his career. That is a challenge considering boxing is a sport where you need to build up your pedigree in the amateur ranks with many fighters having over a hundred bouts.

Excluding walkovers, Joshua had 43 bouts as an amateur with 40 wins. It culminated in his winning an Olympic gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics in the Super-heavyweight division.

Despite Joshua winning an Olympic gold medal there was always a sense that he did not possess the necessary technical skillset that other great boxers, who did experience a long amateur career, have. Joshua did not need that early on in his professional career as he blitzed through any fighter put in front of him and his first 20 fights were all victories via a stoppage.

The ferocious and powerful combinations he threw would be impossible for opponents to contain. This saw him not go beyond three rounds in his first 14 fights with matters looking very easy in the ring. His current record of 24-3 has seen him record 22 wins by a way of knockout.

In retrospect, it may have been better for Joshua to have slightly tougher opponents in his early fights. This may have helped him improve technically, build up stamina levels plus work on his footwork and head movement.

Joshua appears to have been caught between fight styles as he has tried to work on his technical skillsets, and whilst he has gotten much better at that, this has perhaps neutralised the aggressive fighting style he once had.

Hopefully, Joshua and his new trainer Derrick James can find the right line between utilising his natural physical strengths along with new technical adjustments made. James being in Joshua's corner for the Franklin fight means it will be his third different trainer in as many fights.

Joshua split from his long-time coach Rob McCracken after the first Usyk contest then teamed up with Robert Garcia for the rematch. However, that partnership lasted only for that fight with issues reportedly in camp hampering preparations for the Usyk rematch.

James can bring much-needed stability to Joshua's boxing career and provide him with the ideal platform to improve as a fighter and remain focused on getting back to the top of the heavyweight division.

He currently also trains world champions Errol Spence Jr. and Jermell Charlo so Joshua is sure to pick up on some useful tips and benefit from being in a competitive and winning environment.

An impressive win for Joshua against Franklin can boost his confidence massively and set him up well for another fight later in the year that can be a tougher test. Although, Fury and Usyk may still be far away even if Joshua overcomes Franklin.

Another fight with arch-rival and fellow Brit Dillian Whyte could be on the cards and would be another good test for Joshua considering Whyte has competed for world titles before. Also, there is a score to settle as Whyte came out on top when the pair first fought in the amateur ranks in 2009 before Joshua won in their first professional contest in 2015.

A fight with Wilder in the near future also makes sense as both are former belt holders that have tasted victory as heavyweight champions before, so a potential winner will have proven themselves against a credible opponent.

The fight should have arguably happened when both were belt holders in the heavyweight division as Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn claimed they were set to fight in 2018 but nothing came of that. There would still be high interest from boxing fans if they were to face each other now but Joshua would need some solid momentum entering it.

So, whilst there is plenty still to gain for Joshua, he also has a lot to lose as defeat against Franklin will mark a definite point of decline for his career and all but end his aspirations of sitting at the top of the heavyweight division again. A possible loss would put him on a three-fight losing streak.

Joshua may not have been the favourite in his fights against Usyk so those defeats can be more bearable to overcome but losing in a fight where you are heavily favoured would be much harder to grasp.

The Ruiz Jr loss was a fight Joshua was a favourite in, but as it was his first defeat, it could have been accepted as a blip or minor setback at the time. However, defeat to Franklin would be an even greater crushing blow due to where Joshua is in his career now.

Joshua has to grasp this opportunity and get the British public and boxing fans back on his side and be excited about his fights again. He clearly is a sporting superstar in this country with 13 UK pay-per-view headlining bouts and five headlining stadium fights across the UK in his career so far.

Joshua certainly has the power and stardom to bring in viewers from beyond the regular boxing audience. However, this fight with Franklin has not attracted great levels of interest as ticket sales have been relatively poor and promotion for the fight has suffered possibly from Joshua no longer fighting on Sky Box Office, but instead on the sports streaming platform, DAZN.

The casual audience may not be aware of these broadcast changes and will likely not have heard of or have access to DAZN. Therefore, if Joshua's fights are to be heavily popular again, he needs to perform impressively in this comeback and generate interest that reaches back to all audiences and draws them back in for future big fights.