British-Nigerian, Anthony Joshua, the former world heavyweight champion, won by unanimous decision over African-American Jermaine Franklin on Saturday in London.
Joshua was fighting for the first time since losing a rematch with Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk last year. Joshua was victorious after 11 rounds, with the judges scoring the fight 118-111, 117-111, and 117-111 in his favor.
The first round started with Joshua in command, looking to work his left jab.
In the second round, he began to open up slightly, but blood began to drip from his nose after a series of neat jabs from Franklin.
The pair started to trade blows through the third period with Joshua struggling to push through the gears, and Franklin’s slick jab was proving a real weapon as the fight reached a cagey stage going into the fifth round.
A good right hand started the fifth but Anthony Joshua continued to struggle to make a significant breakthrough with Franklin certainly in the fight.
The American continued to press forward himself at the midway point with Joshua finding himself in a real test against a slick opponent, as the pair finally exchanged in a small flurry at the end of the sixth.
Some big shots started to finally hit their target in the tenth for the British-Born Nigerian who had much more success in the stanza but Franklin continued to trade and fire back as the fight started to open up.
It all came down to the final round, with Joshua landing a big uppercut but it ultimately went to the scorecards with Anthony Joshua victorious.
