British trainer of the year nominee, Shane McGuigan has told of the secret to defeating Jermaine Franklin, after having the American over for sparring with Daniel Dubois.
After back-to-back defeats for the first time in his career, as an amateur or professional, Anthony Joshua is desperately in need of a victory when he returns to action on April 1st.
With a new trainer in his corner, in the form of Derrick James, the two-time heavyweight champion will be hoping that his comeback fight will mark a significant turning point in his career, as he seeks to mount his toughest title charge to date.
According to numerous reports, the opponent for AJ’s comeback will be American heavyweight, Jermaine Franklin. The 29-year-old suffered his first career defeat back in November, in a close majority decision loss to Dillian Whyte.
Despite defeat it seems that Matchroom promoter, Eddie Hearn, has given the ‘989 Assassin’ another huge opportunity, as compensation for his performance against Whyte.
In an interview with Seconds Out, Shane McGuigan highlighted the Achilles’ heel of the tough American, which Whyte failed to exploit in their contentious clash three months ago.
“Franklin is a tough guy, he has been in the gym with Daniel [Dubois], but really when you put combinations together, he starts to go. Dillian [Whyte] was not putting his combinations together against him. It is a good opponent, to make Joshua look good. That is what he needs to do, get back out there, get back to his winning ways, back to knocking people out.”
“Franklin has just gone twelve rounds with Dillian Whyte, if he [AJ] does him in three or four rounds, maybe five, it’s perfect. That is literally exactly what Eddie [Hearn] and DAZN and everyone will want. So, I think it is a good opponent.”
Anthony Joshua’s fight with Franklin will undoubtedly be used to draw comparisons between his and Dillian Whyte’s respective threat to the heavyweight crown.
Eddie Hearn has often spoke of a rematch between the pair, supposedly targeted for the summer, but Joshua must first take care of business in April.
