Anthony Joshua and American heavyweight Jermaine Franklin have agreed to fight on April 1 at the O2 Arena, according to the Daily Mail.
Since his defeat to Oleksander Usyk in August 2022, where he suffered his second straight defeat, Joshua has not participated in any fight.
He lost his WBA, WBO, and IBF championships to the Ukrainian in his first fight in September 2021, and he was unable to regain them the following year after losing both contests on the judges’ tallies.
However, Joshua will face Franklin in a must-win bout as he attempts to reclaim his top spot as one of the best boxers in the world.
According to reports, Franklin and Joshua have agreed on financial terms for the fight and will sign the final papers on Monday.
Joshua was scheduled to meet Tyson Fury in December, but discussions between the two parties fell through, with Fury’s team expressing dissatisfaction over how long Joshua’s camp was taking to complete the deal.
Joshua was sad that the bout was canceled because he believed they had made significant progress toward a deal.
