RBR ***Official*** Sherdog Sanctioned Anthony Joshua vs Franklin DAZN 4/1

[Zarathustra611]

I wasn't expecting AJ to hold back so much. Even with his confidence being at an all-time low after losing his last two fights consecutively. He never turned it up like he should have and really went after this guy. Looked very flat. When he did explode with that body shot he hurt Franklin but he either didn't follow-up or allowed his man to recover. He should be disappointed for not getting the finish but still managed to practically shut this guy out. Not sure what the judges were watching but I struggle to give Franklin more than a round at best.

That's basically the story of AJ's career.

Plenty of potential but no killer instinct. He could have got Usyk out of there at times, imo had he put his foot on the gas and followed up. But he's too wary- of counters? of his own gas tank? too much in his own head or bad corner instructions? Who knows. Has it been 5 years or more since AJ went after a finish and got it?

 

[Zarathustra611]

Some interesting takeaways
-Forgot how great Franklin's chin is. He may be rival for Joyce for best chin in boxing
-Even though Franklin clearly lost the majority of the early rounds he looked fresh and AJ looked worried & a bit labored
-Franklin's corner sounded amazing and top notch 1st half of fight.
-I enjoyed Franklin's posturing and tactics the 1st half
-The power must of got to Franklin because the rush in to hold started to get annoying and he gave away rounds. Totally let AJ's chin, cardio, and size off the hook.
- His posturing & showboating got annoying when all he was going to do was hold. It wasn't funny or exciting anymore
-Also corner should of told him he was down huge and needed to go for broke. That rushing in was doing him no favors. Thought they dropped the ball 2nd half of fight.
-AJ was too content to hold and get breaks as well. David Benavidez should train AJ. Lmao
-AJ handled some big shots pretty well. However, he still doesn't respond well to punishment
-I thought AJ acted childish and weird again post fight. Lots of sneaky dirty shit from AJ today.
-All speculation here but AJ did not seem pleased with James or excited to work with him again. He did mention going back to Texas but didn't seem to thank or acknowledge James post fight. Reminded me of what he did after training under Robert Garcia.
- Wilder & Fury both stop AJ
-Loved Franklin early on got tired of him by the end. I dont see anyone wanting to fight him. He is super skilled and as tough as they come. Especially being an undersized heavyweight. I can see him being avoided like the plague.
-AJ doesn't look any better. However, nobody is going to give Franklin the credit of being as difficult as he truly is.

Why would anyone avoid Franklin? He's the perfect "marking time"- "resume padding"- "tune up but need a decent workout" guy right now.

He's the perfect punching bag.

Puts on enough of a show that everyone considers it a "decent" fight. But he's not in there to win. He's tough- but he's not finding a way to win.

Makes no effort to actually win the fight. (what boxing IQ when he's clearly behind but makes no effort to even win rounds, despite knowing he has no ko power?)

Has zero ability to hurt any other heavyweight. But looks a decent enough technician.

He looks credible in the ring. But Whyte is at a horrendous stage of his career and was never, ever threatened.

 

[burningspear]

Why would anyone avoid Franklin? He's the perfect "marking time"- "resume padding"- "tune up but need a decent workout" guy right now.

He's the perfect punching bag.

Puts on enough of a show that everyone considers it a "decent" fight. But he's not in there to win. He's tough- but he's not finding a way to win.

Makes no effort to actually win the fight. (what boxing IQ when he's clearly behind but makes no effort to even win rounds, despite knowing he has no ko power?)

Has zero ability to hurt any other heavyweight. But looks a decent enough technician.

He looks credible in the ring. But Whyte is at a horrendous stage of his career and was never, ever threatened.

on the other hand, this was meant to be a showcase, a spingboard back to the top, why pick someone who doesnt really know how to lose yet, hasnt been close to being stopped .. and a carbon copy of the guy who crushed his world a few years back, you think aj wasnt having flashbacks of msg when a short chubby counter puncher with fast hands was clipping him?
he doesnt want dillian next but hearn does, so expect dillian next, a fighter who's confidence is off the charts but his skills dont quite match, antithesis of joshua lol

 

[bangalangin]

This performance reduces Usyk’s stock

 

[randomg1t]

was i the only one annoyed by AJ holding franklin with one hand and uppercutting him with the other? the fucking ref did nothing about it. and one time ref says stop and AJ throws another one on the break, the ref pretends like it didn't happen. what the fuck?

anyway, as stated, joshua looked pretty uninspired. i didn't think he looked horrible per se, but he wasn't exactly impressing with anything much. that body shot that hurt franklin was really good, but he let his man off the hook for no reason.

after the decision was announced, he looked really pissy, too. i didn't catch the post fight interviews, but from what i gather here, he said some dumb shit again? what did he say?

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

That's basically the story of AJ's career.

Plenty of potential but no killer instinct. He could have got Usyk out of there at times, imo had he put his foot on the gas and followed up. But he's too wary- of counters? of his own gas tank? too much in his own head or bad corner instructions? Who knows. Has it been 5 years or more since AJ went after a finish and got it?

I wouldn't say that. He's finished most of his opponents. It wasn't until after he was upset by Ruiz that he showed he could be gun shy. Not long after he managed to KO Pulev. That was only a couple years ago. He could've gotten Usyk out of there at times? Never came close. Usyk wouldn't let him build any momentum when AJ did try to follow-up. He looked like a windshield wiper with his head and upper body movement. The only real scare Usyk had was in the second fight in one of the late rounds (9 I believe). If he was close to going he wouldn't have been able to put it on AJ the very next round and then win both of the championship rounds.

 

[Tatra]

This performance reduces Usyk’s stock

No it doesn't.

 

[WklySportsMemes]

Why would anyone avoid Franklin? He's the perfect "marking time"- "resume padding"- "tune up but need a decent workout" guy right now.

He's the perfect punching bag.

Puts on enough of a show that everyone considers it a "decent" fight. But he's not in there to win. He's tough- but he's not finding a way to win.

Makes no effort to actually win the fight. (what boxing IQ when he's clearly behind but makes no effort to even win rounds, despite knowing he has no ko power?)

Has zero ability to hurt any other heavyweight. But looks a decent enough technician.

He looks credible in the ring. But Whyte is at a horrendous stage of his career and was never, ever threatened.

-Dude ate Joshua & Whyte's power like tic tacs. 2 of the heavist hitters not named Wilder.
-Arguably won the Whyte fight.
-Frustrated Joshua
-He was a no name and now has 2 losses.
-He came to win the Whyte fight & the 1st half of the Joshua fight. I would agree that he didn't come to win the 2nd half of the Joshua fight. However, AJ's power had a lot to do with that.
-He's the definition of high risk low reward fight.

Ok if your theory is true we will see who he fights next. Especially since the top guys pretty much refuse to fight eachother and dance around eachother. Franklin should be able to get another top guy if this is true. Tons to choose from at this point.

 

[treelo]

i mean, he won every round but it was all a bit meh

he didnt want to pull the trigger at all, and when he did he got caught a few times with clean shots

 

[Misery Signals]

AJ should have just fought Whyte instead. Whyte has a better name, worse chin and doesn't just fight defensively the whole time. He might have been able to KO him again. Fighting Franklin was always going to be a decision. It guaranteed AJ the win but also in an unimpressive way.

 

[Seano]

AJ should have just fought Whyte instead. Whyte has a better name, worse chin and doesn't just fight defensively the whole time. He might have been able to KO him again. Fighting Franklin was always going to be a decision. It guaranteed AJ the win but also in an unimpressive way.

One could argue that it was actually a good thing Joshua had to work last night, I suppose. It wouldn't have done him much good to go out there, throw a combo or two and have his hand raised.

 

[treelo]

Joshua is now a sitting duck for Fury and Wilder, he needs to stay well away from the pair of them...he may have always been in hindsight

 

[Zarathustra611]

-Dude ate Joshua & Whyte's power like tic tacs. 2 of the heavist hitters not named Wilder.
-Arguably won the Whyte fight.
-Frustrated Joshua
-He was a no name and now has 2 losses.
-He came to win the Whyte fight & the 1st half of the Joshua fight. I would agree that he didn't come to win the 2nd half of the Joshua fight. However, AJ's power had a lot to do with that.
-He's the definition of high risk low reward fight.

Ok if your theory is true we will see who he fights next. Especially since the top guys pretty much refuse to fight eachother and dance around eachother. Franklin should be able to get another top guy if this is true. Tons to choose from at this point.

Why does losing two fights deserve Franklin more big fights?

Franklin throws pattycakes. That makes him a safe fight.

He seems to be the benficiary of "oh, he's better than expected" viewer generosity vs Whyte but as awful as Whyte looked he still won and was never bothered. Maybe Franklin won a couple of rounds and maybe a couple of others were close but he spent most of the night eating Whyte's shots (as you say yourself) with nothing in his arsenal to worry him.

He barely won a round vs AJ. Joshua won 5 of the first 6 rounds but you have Franklin winning early? Ok, there's not really a counter to that. I mean if you wanna talk this guy up, fill your boots. I don't see him beating many or anyone being scared of him.

 

[WklySportsMemes]

Why does losing two fights deserve Franklin more big fights?

Franklin throws pattycakes. That makes him a safe fight.

He seems to be the benficiary of "oh, he's better than expected" viewer generosity vs Whyte but as awful as Whyte looked he still won and was never bothered. Maybe Franklin won a couple of rounds and maybe a couple of others were close but he spent most of the night eating Whyte's shots (as you say yourself) with nothing in his arsenal to worry him.

He barely won a round vs AJ. Joshua won 5 of the first 6 rounds but you have Franklin winning early? Ok, there's not really a counter to that. I mean if you wanna talk this guy up, fill your boots. I don't see him beating many or anyone being scared of him.

Welcome to HW boxing. People get undeserved shots & big fights all the time. Especially after they were on a big stage with 2 big names. Especially with top guys not fighting eachother.

None of this has anything to do with my points though.
Franklin is a tougher out and fight than his name & record would indicate.

No I did not have Franklin winning early. That is something you just made up.

 

[listrahtes]

That's basically the story of AJ's career.

Plenty of potential but no killer instinct. He could have got Usyk out of there at times, imo had he put his foot on the gas and followed up. But he's too wary- of counters? of his own gas tank? too much in his own head or bad corner instructions? Who knows. Has it been 5 years or more since AJ went after a finish and got it?

AJ is like a poor man's Wladimir Klitschko. All the physical tools but panics quick when hurt and looses composure. Can't fight on the inside so he darts from outside but doesn't have Wladimirs powerful jab . He also has a massive ego which prevents him from working on this. His petty behaviour after Usyk and now here shows this disconnect.

 

[Zarathustra611]

No I did not have Franklin winning early. That is something you just made up.

I did actually misread /misinterpret what you said about the 2nd half of the fight (vs early in the fight)

 

[Zarathustra611]

AJ is like a poor man's Wladimir Klitschko. All the physical tools but panics quick when hurt and looses composure. Can't fight on the inside so he darts from outside but doesn't have Wladimirs powerful jab . He also has a massive ego which prevents him from working on this. His petty behaviour after Usyk and now here shows this disconnect.

I gave him a pass on the post Usyk in ring weirdness as he was literally embodying all the symptoms of a concussion injury live on camera (mood wings, volatility, disordered thinking etc etc).

 

[listrahtes]

I gave him a pass on the post Usyk in ring weirdness as he was literally embodying all the symptoms of a concussion injury live on camera (mood wings, volatility, disordered thinking etc etc).

Could be but I know for years that behind the scenes he is an incredible racist hateful person . That's why for me this is kinda a look behind the curtain.

 

[Minowafanatic]

When was the last time he fought with confidence?

Probably pre Ruiz although he looked much better v Pulev than he did here

 

[Misery Signals]

One could argue that it was actually a good thing Joshua had to work last night, I suppose. It wouldn't have done him much good to go out there, throw a combo or two and have his hand raised.

I get the concept of getting in rounds, but if this was suppose to be a showcase performance it wasn't a good choice.