We are in those days when the naysayers are louder than the fans thanks to the increasing influence of social media, but I don't think you can draw a line through the career of the British Heavyweight just yet.
Yes, it was not a performance that many expected, but sometimes you have to give credit to a fighter like Franklin who was not prepared to roll over. He did the same in a much closer loss to Dillian Whyte, a fight many believed the American won, but this was a much more one-sided result and Anthony Joshua deserves some praise for that.
I would recommend he heads back to Texas as soon as possible and gets back in the gym with his new trainer- Derrick James has some significant World Champions under his tutelage and there is every chance he will be preparing Errol Spence Jr for the monster Undisputed fight with Terence Crawford and I can only think Anthony Joshua benefits by training alongside Spence Jr and the Charlo brothers to continue his development.
Now I am not saying I would expect Joshua to beat either of the two World Champions in the Heavyweight Division, but so what? There is every chance that Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury's expected two fights would mean the eventual winner, or both, could retire, while mandatories will be called to fracture the Division once the first bout ends with a four belt holder (at least I hope they can sign quickly enough for a four Belt holder to still be the outcome of any first Undisputed fight).
Would I favour Anthony Joshua against Deontay Wilder or Joe Joyce? Probably not on the showing on Saturday, but there were one or two positive signs as he looked to have gotten through the Twelve Rounds well enough. Derrick James will be tasked with giving Anthony Joshua to let his punches go a little more, as he had been urging on Saturday night, but that relationship can only build and the trust develops the longer they spend time together, another reason I would head right back over to Texas if I was in Joshua's shoes.
It does sound like he wants to be back in the ring in the summer, either July or August, and that could depend on if we finally get the Spence Jr-Crawford bout signed off. Some have suggested that could be announced in two weeks time on the big Davis-Garcia card, but most are expecting the June 17th rumoured date to be pushed back and that may also push back any Joshua return.
Unlike some who want to see Anthony Joshua straight back in with the top four names in the Division, I think the best fight for him next is the personal rivalry bout with Dillian Whyte. I think that will allow us to see how much of the 'dog' is really left in Joshua- if he cannot get up for that fight and want to put a serious hurt on Whyte, I think it might actually be a good time to think about what he wants next.
However, I anticipate that would be a really good fight for both Joshua and Whyte as they look to become major players in the Division again. Fighting in July/August also opens the door for a third fight in 2023 for Anthony Joshua, assuming he can beat Dillian Whyte, and being more active is definitely important for him at this stage of his career.
Would the fights with the top four names mentioned be available in December? Possibly, but I also think it depends on whether the Undisputed Heavyweight fight between Usyk and Tyson Fury has been signed (I am assuming that will go on in the Middle East in the Autumn/Winter).
The Wilder fight could potentially be called as a final eliminator by the WBC, while you cannot rule out the likes of Filip Hrgovic or Otto Wallin to move into a high spot in the WBO Rankings before perhaps taking on a Joe Joyce in the first quarter of 2024. The career path will be interesting if Anthony Joshua can get through his next fight and I do think there are plenty of options available to him and his team as he looks to move back into the upper echelons of the Heavyweight Division.
It was not the most spectacular of undercards at the O2 Arena on Saturday, but some of the prospects under the Matchroom promotional team produced solid results. Fabian Wardley looks on course for some big domestic dust ups that will end up with the leading Heavyweight contender for the next generation coming out of Britain, while the likes of Ammo Williams, Campbell Hatton and Galal Yafai will be looking to take their next step up the ladder.
All of those names should be out sooner than later.
April and May look like two hot months for fans of the sport and there are three decent cards taking place in the United States this Easter Weekend.
In reality the main events look to be showcase fights for big names looking for World Title Belts against some of the top contenders in their Division, but there are also some good, solid prospects on the undercards of those bouts.
Three cards means three different broadcasters, which can be frustrating for fight fans, but it is what it is with fighters and promoters being tasked with putting on events on weekends like these with the additional holidays in place.
Hopefully we will have plenty of excitement this weekend and the winning Boxers can go on and arrange some big fights for later this year.
Shakur Stevenson vs Shuichiro Yoshino
It is not very easy in picking what should be the top fight of the weekend, but I have settled with this one as Shakur Stevenson moves into the Lightweight Division and looks to make an immediate statement to the rest of the campaigners in the weight class.
He has long looked like being the best young prospect coming through in American Boxing, although there are a number of other names around that may suggest differently. Two of those will be on the undercard, but Shakur Stevenson was a Unified World Champion at the Super Featherweight limit before finding the weight drain too much and deciding to campaign at 135 for now.
At 25 years old there is still scope for Stevenson to move up to Light Welterweight and potentially even into the lucrative Welterweight ranks, but the next step in his career is to win World Titles in the Lightweight Division. The Devin Haney-Vasyl Lomachenko Undisputed fight set for next month will be one that Shakur Stevenson will be eyeing up and he has long campaigned to get in the ring with either of those two elite fighters, but that campaign will end abruptly if he was to lose on Saturday.
An unbeaten Shuichiro Yoshino will be the naturally bigger man, but he is fighting outside of his home country for the first time. The Japanese fighter is Ranked pretty highly by three of the four main governing bodies and Yoshino has won back to back fights against Masayuki Ito and Masayoshi Nakatani, which need to be massively respected, but this may feel another step up against a former World Champion, even if Shakur Stevenson is coming up in weight.
Fighters from Japan tend to be tough and I do think Yoshino is better than a 'hand picked' opponent for Shakur Stevenson- he has power, but I do think it will be difficult to pin down Stevenson and I am interested to see if the American is stronger at 135 pounds compared to 130 when he was feeling the weight cut.
We know that Shakur Stevenson can coast towards the end of a fight rather than really going through the gears and looking for a Stoppage, but I do think Shuichiro Yoshino will not take a backward step. That could put him in a tough position down the stretch when Stevenson should be able to pick his shots and potentially hurt an opponent, but it is hard to really determine how the favourite will go about things.
He has to look good if he is going to call out the winner of Haney-Lomachenko, while there are plenty of other quality operators in the Lightweight Division who could give Stevenson a challenge. The winner of Davis-Garcia is another potential fight, but, again, Stevenson has to show that he is worthy of going up to that kind of level and that means trying to put Shuichiro Yoshino away inside the distance.
Shakur Stevenson is a very good boxer, but putting bums on seats means entertaining and I think the come forward style of Yoshino may see him walk into something late in this one.
Two up and coming American stars are on the undercard and both Jared Anderson and Keyshawn Davis are looking to steal the headlines from Shakur Stevenson.
Jared Anderson is expected to be the next really great American Heavyweight and at 23 years old he has time on his side before he has to begin mixing with some of the biggest names in the Division. He has fought thirteen times and secured thirteen Stoppages, while work with Tyson Fury has had the Heavyweight Champion speaking glowingly about what Anderson can do in the years ahead.
Only three of those thirteen wins have needed more than Two Rounds for Jared Anderson to get the job done, while he impressed in crushing Jerry Forrest in the Second Round back in December. The veteran gave it an early go and actually looked to have rocked Anderson, but the power is real from Big Baby and I think he will have far too much for unbeaten opponent George Arias.
Eighteen wins looks good, but George Arias is much shorter than Jared Anderson and he has only forced a Stoppage seven times in those previous wins. A win over Cassius Chaney looks pretty good and will give Arias confidence, but I think Jared Anderson is much more powerful and I expect him to get rid of his unbeaten opponent within the first half of the fight.
Keyshawn Davis is taking the next step in his career as he faces a former World Title challenger in Anthony Yigit, although the Swedish fighter came up short both times.
The former is looking to get into World Title fights by the end of the year and Davis has shown he has decent power, although it is not concussive and accumulating the shots and breaking down opponents will be the approach that Keyshawn Davis will take.
He is a sharpshooter, but Yigit has shown enough toughness to force Davis into a few Rounds and the last three fights won by the American have all gone at least Five Rounds.
A second half Stoppage looks likely for Keyshawn Davis as he continues moving up the Rankings with the governing bodies and perhaps inches him closer to a potentially huge domestic fight with Frank Martin.
As tough as Anthony Yigit is, both of his losses have seen him Stopped in the Seventh Round by Ivan Beranchyk and Rolly Romero and I think Keyshawin Davis will have broken him down just after the halfway mark of this Ten Rounder.
Jesse Rodriguez vs Cristian Gonzalez
Four fights in an eleventh month period has seen Jesse Rodriguez raise his stock in the world of Boxing and Bam is back in his home town having had just over six months to just reset and go again.
A strong year had seen Bam Rodriguez move up to Super Flyweight and win a World Title, but he returns to a more natural Division in the Flyweight ranks as he looks to pick up a vacant World Title.
Unsurprisingly Bam is the favourite against Cristian Gonzalez, who has had one fight since September 2021. That inactivity has to be an issue against someone like Bam Rodriguez and I do think the Mexican's five Stoppages in fifteen previous wins suggests he may find it difficult to keep Rodriguez from overwhelming him.
I think Bam Rodriguez has some huge opportunities in front of him if he can win this fight- being associated with Eddie Hearn and Matchroom means Unifications against Sunny Edwards and Julio Cesar Martinez are on the horizon in the Flyweight Division and those will certainly attract some real attention.
He doesn't need to impress any more than he has already over the last eighteen months and the win is all that matters, but I think the home crowd are here to see something special and Bam Rodriguez can deliver. My feeling is that he is going to come out with something to prove down at a more natural weight and he may have far too much, far too early for Cristian Gonzalez who has not been in at this level and had very little competitive Rounds in the last couple of years to believe he can stay with the home town favourite.
Eddie Hearn may be dealing with one or two criticisms for the undercard he put out for the Anthony Joshua fight last weekend at the O2 Arena in London, but the show in San Antonio looks to be deeper.
After back to back tussles with Michael Soro, Israil Madrimov takes a step down in level of competition- in a Division where he is the top Ranked contender in the WBA, Madrimov may have to wait his turn before getting around to facing Jermell Charlo, who holds all four belts. A decision to change their own system and remove the regular World Title from the books has perhaps prevented Israil Madrimov from picking up a version of a Belt, but he should keep himself easily active in this one.
He is facing a southpaw, which can be awkward, but Raphael Igbokwe was stopped in the Sixth Round in his last fight with his corner pulling him out and has not been in the ring in nineteen months.
That is far from ideal and Israil Madrimov can produce a solid win.
Raymond Ford is about to enter his toughest test as a professional fighter, but I think there is a real opportunity for him to show how good he could be when he takes on Jessie Magdaleno.
The latter is another southpaw and that is not ideal for the two fighters, while Magdaleno has produced four straight wins since a loss to Isaac Dogboe. That remains the sole loss on the record, but I do think these two Boxers are at a crossroads and Raymond Ford looks keen on making a statement.
The youngster still has something to prove with a Split Draw and a Split Decision win on his resume, but Raymond Ford is learning and improving. Jesse Magdaleno has not really been in with top competition since the loss to Dogboe, while he has had long lay-offs since that defeat in 2018 with four fights in that time.
And finally there is another World Title on the line when Murodjon Akhmadaliev defends his IBF and WBA Super Bantamweight Belts against Marlon Tapales, who is Ranked the Number 1 contender in the IBF Rankngs.
The hope was that Stephen Fulton and Akhmadaliev would create an Undisputed Champion in the Division, but Fulton has taken on a big challenge in heading to Japan to face The Monster. The fight has been postponed until July, but Murodjon Akhmadaliev is not going to allow himself to get rusty in the meantime.
Three wins in a row have pushed Marlon Tapales into this position to face the Champion for two World Titles, but he has lost three times before and been Stopped twice.
I think there will be too much sharpshooting from the Champion that will see him wear down this contender and he can produce the victory inside the distance.
On a very busy night, the last card of note this weekend is headlined by Sebastian Fundora who is still waiting for his shot at a full World Title in the Light Middleweight Division. The Towering Inferno holds the Interim WBC World Title and he has chosen to remain active while Jermell Charlo tries to get over some of the injuries that have forced him to postpone his next mandatory against Tim Tszyu.
We have seen plenty from Fundora to believe he will be in exciting fights in his career and his size is one that should see him moving up to Middleweight and potentially Super Middleweight by the time the career comes to a close.
Becoming a multiple weight World Champion is not easy, but Sebastian Fundora has shown he has the punch output and the variety to knock plenty of people over.
Brian Mendoza produced a big win as an underdog against a former World Champion in his last fight and that has given him this opportunity, but he will have to step up another level to take the Interim World Title away.
He has yet to be Stopped, but I expect plenty of close quarter exchanges and Sebastian Fundora will be looking to replicate the performance from his win over Erickson Lubin almost exactly twelve months ago. The win over Carlos Ocampo was tougher than expected, but I expect the Champion to get back to doing what he does best and Sebastian Fundora can close the show before the final bell.
MY PICKS: Shakur Stevenson to Win Between 7-12 @ 5.00 Sky Bet (2 Units)
Keyshawn Davis to Win Between 6-10 @ 2.62 Sky Bet (2 Units)
Jared Anderson to Win Between 1-5 @ 1.91 Sky Bet (2 Units)
Jesse Rodriguez to Win Between 1-6 @ 4.33 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Israil Madrimov to Win Between 1-6 @ 2.40 Bet365 (2 Units)
Raymond Ford to Win by KO/TKO/Disqualification @ 3.00 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Murodjon Akhmadaliev to Win Between 5-8 @ 4.00 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Sebastian Fundora to Win by KO/TKO/Disqualification @ 2.60 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Boxing 2023: 12-19, - 3.04 Units (57 Units Staked, - 5.33% Yield)
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