Anthony Joshua sends clear message to Tyson Fury after win v Franklin

Anthony Joshua made his feelings clear regarding a potential fight with Tyson Fury following his points win over Jermaine Franklin on Saturday night. AJ returned to winning ways at London’s O2 Arena after back-to-back defeats against Oleksandr Usyk. 

However, it was a rather lacklustre display from Joshua in the English capital and fans were expecting more from the Brit against the unfancied Franklin, who more than held his own. It proved to be a rather nervy night as Joshua won via points, with the scorecards reading 118-111, 117-111, 117-111 in his favour.

And immediately after the fight, his attention turned to what was next – the question on everyone’s lips. When speaking about Fury, Joshua told DAZN: “I know who the fans want. The ball is in his court and I would be honoured to fight for the WBC. We aren’t getting any younger.

“Wherever you are if you’re listening you know my manager, you know where we are. We aren’t getting any younger. I can’t wait to get the next big fight.”

Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn then insisted they would try to make a deal to battle it out with Fury next. The Matchroom chief said: “I think AJ’s going to want the biggest fights. I will say that was a step down from Oleksandr Usyk but there was a huge amount of pressure on him. He took himself away, he’s been training and it’s his first fight with Derrick James.

“I thought he ended the fight well, he’s learning a lot and working on a lot. “But like he said, they’re not getting any younger. We would be willing to entertain those conversations now to go straight into a Tyson Fury fight in the summer. We’ve got Dillian Whyte down there, Deontay Wilder, a lot of good fights out there.”

There are plenty of obstacles to overcome to secure a Joshua vs Fury fight however, with the Gypsy King still potentially taking on Oleksandr Usyk first to seal the undisputed heavyweight king despite recent talks collapsing.

Many thought Joshua would triumph with a knockout over Franklin on Saturday, which was really needed to lay down a marker following his recent setbacks in the heavyweight division. However, that didn’t come and he suffered some scares from the American during the fight.

And afterwards, Joshua was rather downbeat with his performance in front of a sell-out crowd. “He’s here to prove himself, he’s not here to roll over, I wish I could have knocked him out but in 15 years nobody will remember that fight anyway,” he added.