Anthony Joshua has teased a big summer bout amid speculation a heavyweight clash with Tyson Fury could be next on the agenda.
Joshua posted a photograph of himself inside a sauna with the caption, ‘Just me and my mate Abz’.
Underneath the initial caption, Joshua had a checklist. ‘Light 12 rounds, cardio, recovery day, 12 weeks I go again,’ he wrote with a tick next to all of them. ‘All glory to God,’ the post concluded.
The 33-year-old, boxing for the first time under Dallas-based trainer Derrick James, flattered to deceive at times on Saturday night, expressing disappointment himself that he had been unable to knock Jermaine Franklin out.
With observers inside the O2 wanting what had been referred to as an ‘early-era’ Joshua showing, the Brit served up something more conservative and ‘apprehensive’, though did land a few solid single punches and combinations on his American opponent.
![Joshua posted this on social media - teasing a summer bout with Tyson Fury mooted](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/03/11/69415589-11932559-Joshua_posted_this_on_social_media_teasing_a_summer_bout_with_Ty-a-43_1680517694496.jpg)
Joshua posted this on social media – teasing a summer bout with Tyson Fury mooted
![Anthony Joshua (left) got the job done against Franklin as he claimed his first victory since losing his heavyweight title](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/02/09/69386343-11929743-image-a-5_1680425079997.jpg)
Anthony Joshua (left) got the job done against Franklin as he claimed his first victory since losing his heavyweight title
!['AJ' beat Jermaine Franklin by unanimous decision on his return to the ring on Saturday](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/03/08/69392157-11930463-_AJ_beat_Jermaine_Franklin_by_unanimous_decision_on_his_return_t-a-4_1680507591212.jpg)
Joshua beat Jermaine Franklin by unanimous decision on his return to the ring on Saturday
However, promoter Eddie Hearn made clear after the bout that victory was key, and Joshua’s roadmap ahead can now be plotted having won in the ring for the first time in over two years, his first win in three bouts.
A fight with Fury has been touted, particularly in the context of his planned fight with Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk being called off next month over financial disagreements.
However, many did not see in Joshua on Saturday night a man who is ready to step into the ring with the man widely considered to be the best heavyweight on the planet.
Carl Froch, Dillian Whyte and Steve Bunce, among others, all criticised Joshua’s tentativeness.
That particular fight has been teased for some time and would understandably drum up significant interest both home and abroad, with the Middle East the likeliest destination should it be made, but Hearn wants his most prized thoroughbred to enjoy another run out before launching himself into that fight.
‘Some fights are there to be made and you get one chance to do it,’ promoter Hearn told Boxing Social.
‘I think that is potentially the case with Tyson Fury. At the same time, I would still like him to have another fight with [new trainer] Derrick James to improve on what he has been working on.
‘Dillian Whyte is a great fight. He needs to get back in the ring in July [or] August at the latest if he is to get three fights in this year.’
Hearn had previously said in January that a fight with Fury or American Deontay Wilder was ‘nailed on’ for this year.
![Fury (pictured) and Joshua held talks after the latter lost to Oleksandr Usyk, but terms were not agreed](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/03/08/69392323-11930463-Fury_pictured_and_Joshua_held_talks_after_the_latter_lost_to_Ole-a-2_1680507589383.jpg)
Tyson Fury (pictured) and Joshua held talks after the latter lost to Oleksandr Usyk, but terms were not agreed
Talks between Hearn and Fury’s promoter Frank Warren have been mooted, though there remains bad blood between the two parties in wake of their planned December bout last year not being made. Both parties blamed the other for that.
Under a new trainer, Joshua is clearly having his style and technique reworked in a number of ways, something that was obvious on Saturday night, with patience seemingly the key for the former heavyweight champion at this stage of his career.
Despite that, Joshua himself called out Fury, telling broadcasters that the pair were not getting any ‘younger’. It is a fight that would hold huge sway with the British sporting public and has been teased for the best part of a decade.
‘I know who they (the fans) want. They said Tyson Fury; the ball is in his court. I would be honoured to fight for the WBC Heavyweight Championship of the World,’ he said. ‘If he’s listening, he knows my promoter; we’ve had dialogue before, so let’s continue this. We ain’t getting any younger.’
The heavyweight was taken the distance by Franklin, with pundits Froch and Bunce left disappointed by Joshua’s perceived lack of adventure inside the ring.
Froch himself laid into Joshua on BBC Radio 5Live, questioning why he was still boxing amid the heavyweight’s comments that the money was what made him keep coming back.
‘In the ring at world title level he’s been there, done the business. And now I don’t know. What motivates him?’ he asked. ‘I’ve not seen anything in that performance that he wants to be a world champion again.’
Joshua himself showed introspection after the fight, bemoaning his inability to find a stoppage.
‘It was important to win. Jermaine has a good duck and dive style, somebody else from Britain will probably knock him out; respect to him, he did well,’ he said.
‘I should have knocked him out but it is done. On to the next. He is here to prove himself, not roll over. I wish I could have knocked him out.’
With Hearn, perhaps understandably, cautious over jumping straight back into the ring for a fight with world heavyweight champion Fury, it has opened the door to a bout with Joe Joyce or Dillian Whyte, both of whom criticised Joshua in one way or another in the wake of his uncertain performance on Saturday night.
Joyce shared a post on his Instagram story on Sunday that read: ‘There is not a chance in hell that man would hear the final bell against Joyce. The same can be said about Jermaine Franklin.’
![Joshua (left) previously knocked Whyte (right) out when the pair fought at the O2 Arena in 2015](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/02/09/69386453-11929743-image-a-6_1680425197407.jpg)
Joshua (left) previously knocked Whyte (right) out when the pair fought at the O2 Arena in 2015
![Joe Joyce has taunted Anthony Joshua in a social media post on his Instagram story](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/03/09/69391879-11930309-Joe_Joyce_has_taunted_Anthony_Joshua_in_a_social_media_post_on_h-a-6_1680509090440.jpg)
Joe Joyce has taunted Anthony Joshua in a social media post on his Instagram story
Meanwhile, Whyte who was ringside for the Franklin bout, urged Joshua to consider whether boxing was really for him anymore.
‘Joshua has lost all his aggression and killer instincts. The ability is still there, the boxing is still there – he looks the part,’ he said.
‘But every time Franklin shaped up like he was going to hit him, he hesitated. I’ve never seen him like that, he’s a bit shell-shocked. The last few rounds Joshua was very hesitant.
‘Signs of fighter who doesn’t want to do it anymore. If he doesn’t want to do it anymore, I think he should stop.’
He added that he had gone after Franklin, whereas Joshua had not shown the same daring, ‘The difference is in the last two rounds I went after Franklin, he didn’t. ‘I’ll always have a go, win, lose or draw, I’ll have a go.’
Having come into the bout against Franklin under enormous amounts of pressure having lost his two previous bouts, both to Oleksandr Usyk, Joshua was clearly building from the foundations as he sought a path back to the top.
A victory ensured he can think about future bouts, and not premature retirement after another chastening night in the ring, though his performance did little to offer clarification on what might come next.