Anthony Joshua faces Jermaine Franklin at London’s O2 Arena on April 1, topping the bill of a Matchroom card broadcast worldwide by DAZN.
‘AJ’ faces his first scrap outside of the title picture in seven years after losing twice consecutively to Oleksandr Usyk, and the man with the honours of attempting to derail his comeback before it gets moving is Franklin.
The American heavyweight was last out against Dillian Whyte in late 2022 – a good showing but not enough to take it on the scorecards.
Joshua enters the main event as a big favourite, and will be eager to show fans and potential opposition that he’s a force to be reckoned with under the tutelage of new Texan trainer, Derrick James.
The card features the return of British Heavyweight Champion, Fabio Wardley, as well as Felix Cash challenging for the European middleweight title and potentially setting up a clash with Ammo Williams, who will also fight.
Craig Richards was set to face Ricards Bolotniks in a rescheduled bout for the light heavy ranks, but Richards has had to pull out once more.
Fabio Wardley vs Michael Coffie – Heavyweight
Wardley (15-0, 14 KOs) returns to the ring after a spirited showing against Nathan Gorman worthy of a British champion and those impressive names that came before. He faces Michael Coffie (13-3, 10 KOs) – an American heavyweight who is coming off a loss to Armenia’s Gurgen Hovhannisyan.
Matteo Signani vs Felix Cash – European Middleweight Title
Felix Cash will look to move to 17-0 against Italy’s Matteo Signani, and pick up the European belt in the process. Cash was last out in an eight-rounder against Celso Neves – a points decision that saw the Brit suffer a cut and, as he admitted, not perform at his best. Should he win, he’ll be looking to fight American rival, Ammo Williams, who will feature just before him on the card.
Ammo Williams vs River Wilson-Bent – Middleweight
Austin ‘Ammo’ Williams is undefeated in 9 contests, and looks to build up his name on this side of the pond before a Cash clash against River Wilson-Bent (14-2-1, 6 KOs). Wilson-Bent’s 2022 was capped off with a stoppage loss at the hands of impressive prospect, Hamzah Sheeraz, but he returned earlier this year with a points decision over Darryl Sharp to earn him this Williams fight.
Campbell Hatton vs Lewis Fielding – Lightweight
Campbell Hatton (10-0, 3 KOs) faces Louis Fielding (10-7, 1 KO) to continue his development in the lightweight ranks. The son of British boxing legend, Ricky, will compete just three weeks after his latest outing – a six-round points win over Michel Gonxhe.
John Hedges vs Daniel Bocianski – Light Heavyweight
‘Gentleman’ John Hedges faces former Tommy Fury opponent, Daniel Bocianski, to look to progress his 175lb journey. Poland’s Bocianski (11-2, 2 KOs) went the six-round distance with Fury, and Hedges (7-0, 2 KOs) will make a good statement if he can get the Polish fighter out of there before the final bell rings on their eight-rounder.
The card will also feature Albanian cruiserweight, Juergen Uldedaj, German heavyweight, Peter Kadiru, andSaudi Arabian super lightweight fighting out of the USA, Ziyad Almaayouf. Joshua-Franklin be broadcast as part of DAZN’s subscription fee via the app as well as on their newly announced Sky channel.josh