Via Craig Daly: Anthony Joshua’s confidence level is boosted at this point, making it important for him to knock out Jermaine Franklin soon in a match announced April 1 at the O2 Arena in London, England.
According to Spencer Oliver, it won’t help that former two-time heavyweight champion Joshua (24-3, 22 KOs) enters the trenches to win a round against Franklin (21-1, 14 KOs) won’t help because he already has a lot lots of experience in roundabout battles.
What Joshua needs most is to score an early KO, something he hasn’t done since a third-round knockout win over laner Eric Molina in 2016.
That was seven years ago, and it was a long break between early knockouts for Joshua, who regularly saved opponents in the first half of his 10-year professional career.
Joshua vs Franklin = good fight
“I think it was a good fight for Joshua. Jermaine Franklin was an unknown when he was up against Dillian Whyte in November when he arrived,” Spencer Oliver told iFL TVIt was announced today that Anthony Joshua and Jermaine Franklin will have a match on April 1 at the O2 Arena in London.
“People thought Dillian Whyte was going to blow him away, and he proved to be a tough customer. People think he might even have beaten Dillian Whyte. Anyway, it’s very tight. Therefore, Mr [Franklin] comes with some certifications, and he has some ambitions.
“His only loss was against Dillian Whyte, despite not having his real name on his profile. So we don’t know much about him, but from what we saw in November, he’s a tough customer and he’s got a lot of ambition, and he’s going to see this as an opportunity. big against Anthony Joshua, who is about to debut those two losses against Oleksandr Usyk.
“I think it’s a good fight to come back. I know the public probably won’t recognize Joshua because of this opponent. They wanted to see him fight a more recognizable name. They want to see Dillian Whyte’s rematch or something like that.
“I don’t think it was a bad fight. You have to allow Joshua that. He collaborated with Derrick James. He’s in America, he’s researching new things, he wants to be a three-time heavyweight champion, and this is the first step back.
“Confidence is the most important thing for a fighter, and Anthony Joshua is lacking in that confidence at the moment. He needs this fight, he needs to win, and he needs to win in style to get some of that confidence back if he’s going to get some of it back if he wants to get back to the title. there,” said Oliver.
Franklin will bring it
“Jermaine will bring it; I think he showed that against Dillian Whyte,” Oliver continued. “He is a difficult customer. Dillian Whyte, as we know, is heavy-handed, and Jermaine had some big hits there, and he bounced back in no time. The child has a heart, and as I said, he has ambition.
“He has a winner mentality, and that makes him dangerous against someone like Joshua who is about to lose two games to Oleksandr Usyk, so his confidence is running low. So when you consider it all, it’s about opportunity and this is a huge opportunity for Franklin, and he’ll feel like he’s got Joshua at the right time.
“It’s also a must-win for Anthony Joshua. Not only does he need to win, but he has to look good doing it. Yes, it’s an interesting thing, it’s interesting, it’s true. I think when I saw it, I thought, ‘Okay, that’s a good opponent for Joshua. This will be an interesting one for Joshua on April 1, and let’s see if he can regain that confidence.
“He needs to regain the confidence he had against Klitschko in 2017 when he had that rudeness. There’s something about him. He rolled the dice and took everything on himself because when he boxed Oleksandr [he lacked confidence],” said Spencer.
AJ needs to turn back the clock
Oliver said: “If Joshua had hit Klitschko boxing Usyk, we might have had a different outcome. “But by the time he played Usyk, he had lost to Andy Ruiz and his confidence was ruined. You can see that he was a little hesitant, and he gave Usyk the time and space he needed to make his shots.
“Joshua needs to get back to the rawness that brought him to the world heavyweight title, and I think if he can find that, I think he will put himself back in the mixed world. . If he can’t, it will be a tough road back.
“Certainly, there’s no two ways about it,” Oliver said when asked if Joshua’s loss to Ruiz in June 2019 in New York could have left him psychologically traumatized. You can see the psychological trauma in the subsequent performances.
“Even in the second game against Andy Ruiz, he boxed in on instructions and had to do his best to beat Ruiz, who admittedly turned out badly. Joshua had to go in there with the demons that had been defeated in the previous battle,” Oliver said.
Can AJ’s trauma be repaired?
“That’s the million dollar question. Can that psychological damage be repaired?” Spencer said. “When you look through the history of the sport, some fighters get knocked down, and they come back, and they’re still the same, and others are traumatized. That is a difficult thing to overcome.
“How does he get over it? I’ve always thought there was a missing piece since that loss. Joshua hit the road on his own and he was looking for a new coach, and he didn’t really feel like a good fit with the team around him.
“To regain that confidence, he needs to feel completely confident with the team around him, and that is something we will find out with Derrick James. Will he be able to bring that to Joshua and re-establish the confidence it needs; otherwise, it will be a really hard road.
“I hope so too. I think the Joshua I know can stop Jermaine Franklin, but that depends on how he approaches the game. I think he needs to be stronger with his attacks. work and take advantage of the opportunity. Take the opportunity while it’s there,” said Oliver.
Early knockout important to Joshua
“Don’t be too hesitant. You would be stupid not to pick Joshua, but Franklin is a direct competitor,” Oliver said. “I think he proved it against Dillian Whyte, and he’s going to come in with confidence, and he’s going to see that as a big opportunity, and that makes him dangerous.
“Now Joshua has experience. It’s all about confidence. It’s all about the psychosocial side of things, the mental side of things. That plays a huge role in boxing. Joshua, that’s what’s missing from his bout at the moment.
“I don’t think he fully believes in himself. The psychological damage we’ve talked about has been done, and that needs to be repaired. I think a knockout in the first or second round would get him through instead of being sent into the trenches a little bit and circling under his belt.
“It’s not about the hoops below his waist. Oleksandr Usyk, the fighter he lost last time in a scoreboard decider, although we did see Usyk run away with it for the last three or four rounds.
“It’s not that he needs innings. I think it’s the psychological side of things, the mental side, that needs to be fixed. That’s what I think and I think an early knockout will help Joshua. That’s how I see it.
“I know what he’s talking about, but I understand the business side of Anthony Joshua, and I understand the rebuilding process with Joshua,” Oliver said of Dillian Whyte’s complaint that he should have been the rival of Joshua. AJ on April 1st instead of Franklin and that he’d better lose to Jermaine last November because then maybe he’ll be the one to start the war.
“I believe that if Dillian Whyte loses the battle, then Jermaine Franklin will [still] got the job after beating Dillian Whyte.
“His style will always be an uphill battle for Anthony Joshua, and at this stage of his career he needs a rebuild as opposed to the possibility that losing to Dillian Whyte could threaten to come. career.
“I believe the Dillian Whyte fight will be in the summer, but I understand why they picked Jermaine Franklin first. In terms of rebuilding things, he’s clearly a competitor,” Oliver said.
