Anthony Joshua Promises To Retire If He Fails Against Jermaine Franklin
Anthony “AJ” Joshua (24-3, 22 KOs) fully believes he will exit the ring with his hand raised in victory when he squares off against Jermaine Franklin (21-1, 14 KOs) on April 1. But should AJ leave the ring in defeat, will this be the last fight of his career? When asked by the boxing media if he will call it a day were he to lose, the two-time unified champion gave this response:
“I will. I will retire if I lose. I’m not here to battle people. If people want me to retire, I will retire.”
Some observers have remarked that if Franklin scores what would be considered a significant upset, Joshua should call it a day. Now, Joshua is echoing that sentiment.
THE STAKES HAVE RISEN
Should that scenario play out, retirement should be on the table. Throughout his career, Joshua has been considered an elite heavyweight with global appeal. But in truth, the level of success has been spotty since the first loss of his career – a shocking seventh-round stoppage loss to Andy Ruiz in June 2019.
Joshua is only 3-2 in his last five outings and is on a two-fight losing streak. In fairness, those back-to-back defeats were at the hands of reigning unified champion Oleksandr Usyk, who currently ranks first in the 3kingsboxing.com Top Ten fighter rankings. However, there’s little doubt that as the years have gone by, the public has witnessed weaknesses and vulnerabilities of Joshua. Even his promoter, Eddie Hearn, acknowledges that AJ’s star power is different from what it was just a few short years ago.
Suddenly, there’s added intrigue to this fight. Joshua is not only fighting to get back on the winning track, but he’s also fighting to continue his career.
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