[FIGHT THREAD] Anthony Joshua vs Jermaine Franklin, Fabio Wardley vs Michael Polite Coffie, Galal Yafai vs Moises Calleros, Campbell Hatton vs Louis Fielding & live round-by-round coverage
DATE Saturday 1st April 2023
LOCATION O2 Arena, London, United Kingdom
TELEVISION DAZN (Worldwide)
TIME 7pm (London), 11am (LA), 2pm (NYC), 5am Saturday (Sydney)
Main Event Start Time c.3.5 hours after times posted above
Anthony Joshua vs Jermaine Franklin
12 Rounds
Heavyweight Division
| Anthony Joshua | vs | Jermaine Franklin |
|---|---|---|
| 24(22)-3-0 | RECORD | 21(4)-1-0 |
| 33 | AGE | 29 |
| 6'6" | HEIGHT | 6'2" |
| 82" | REACH | 77" |
| 255.25 lbs | WEIGHT | 234.75 lbs |
| Orthodox | STANCE | Orthodox |
| Watford, UK | HOMETOWN | Saginaw, USA |
| 2(1)-3-0 | LAST FIVE | 4(1)-1-0 |
Fabio Wardley vs Michael Polite Coffie
10 Rounds
Heavyweight Division
| Fabio Wardley | vs | Michael Polite Coffie |
|---|---|---|
| 15(14)-0-0 | RECORD | 13(10)-3-0 |
| 28 | AGE | 36 |
| 6'5" | HEIGHT | 6'5" |
| 78" | REACH | 83" |
| 242.25 lbs | WEIGHT | 269.25 lbs |
| Orthodox | STANCE | Orthodox |
| Ipswich, UK | HOMETOWN | New York, USA |
| 5(5)-0-0 | LAST FIVE | 2(2)-3-0 |
Galal Yafai vs Moises Calleros
10 Rounds
Super Flyweight Division
| Galal Yafai | vs | Moises Calleros |
|---|---|---|
| 3(2)-0-0 | RECORD | 36(19)-10-1 |
| 30 | AGE | 33 |
| 5'4" | HEIGHT | 5'4" |
| 68" | REACH | 68" |
| 113.5 lbs | WEIGHT | 114.25 lbs |
| Southpaw | STANCE | Orthodox |
| Birmingham, UK | HOMETOWN | Monclova, Mexico |
Campbell Hatton vs Louis Fielding
8 Rounds
Heavyweight Division
| Campbell Hatton | vs | Louis Fielding |
|---|---|---|
| 10(3)-0-0 | RECORD | 10(1)-7-0 |
| 22 | AGE | 32 |
| 5'6" | HEIGHT | ? |
| 139.75 lbs | WEIGHT | 138.5 lbs |
| Orthodox | STANCE | Orthodox |
| Manchester, UK | HOMETOWN | Tamworth, UK |
| 5(2)-0-0 | LAST FIVE | 3(0)-2-0 |
Other Undercard Fights
- Austin Williams vs River Wilson-Bent
- Juergen Uldedaj vs Benoit Huber
- Jordan Flynn vs Kane Baker
- John Hedges vs Daniel Bocianski
- Peter Kadiru vs Alen Lauriolle
- Ziyad Almaayouf vs Georgi Velichkov
Live Round-By-Round Coverage
Anthony Joshua vs Jermaine Franklin
Round 1
The crowd is buzzing, and we're ready to go. Joshua with the first jab. Both men look up for this. Nice jab from AJ. Joshua with a clubbing left hook to the head. Joshua jabs. Franklin ties up then goes to the body. Nice combo from the American. Hard jab AJ. Joshua jabs again. This jab is winning Joshua the round. Right to the body from the Brit. Franklin may have tapped the body there. Franklin with a decent jab to the face. Franklin cuts the distance, but Joshua does well to tie up.
Joshua 10-9 Franklin
Round 2
No real damage inflicted on either fighter in the first. What's in store for the second? Soft hook lands from Joshua. Now the jab. Franklin jabs to the chest but has to take a right to the head for his troubles. JF jabs to the body. So does AJ. Hard jab from Joshua. Right lands from the Watford man. Franklin sees the uppercut coming but misses the body with his response. Franklin jabs. Franklin lands a right, but Joshua responds to the body. Joshua's nose is bleeding. Left hook counter from Joshua.
Joshua 10-9 Franklin - Joshua 20-18 Franklin
Round 3
Joshua definitely won the first two, but they've been competitive rounds. Franklin's corner are happy with his man. Joshua seems a bit more gun shy at the beginning of this round, and Franklin capitalises with a shot to the body. AJ finally gets to work with a head shot. Joshua covering up when Franklin rushes forward. They trade blows. Joshua lands a right, but Franklin responds with interest. Joshua jabs to the chest. Double jab from Franklin. Jab from Franklin. Franklin misses the right but scores with a jab. Franklin to the body. Joshua lands a right.
Franklin 10-9 Joshua - Joshua 29-28 Franklin
Round 4
Joshua misses a big right. Franklin jabs. Joshua to the body. Franklin avoids then lands a right. Franklin comes forward and lands a couple of scoring shots. Joshua jabs. Left hook from Joshua. Hard jab from the Brit. Jab from Joshua. Joshua gets the ribs, but Franklin lands a hard right counter. Franklin on the beltline. Left hook from JF catches his man on the way in. Franklin lands a good shot and has Joshua looking uncomfortable on the ropes.
Franklin 10-9 Joshua - Draw 38-38
Round 5
Joshua gets the first blow in. Franklin with a combination that ends with an uppercut. Joshua jabs away. He needs to re-establish it to take control of this fight again. Joshua scores with a couple more jabs. Franklin to the body. Joshua is scoring lots but not hurting Franklin in this round. Franklin with a big right that has AJ needing to tie up. Franklin with a couple of hooks to the body. They tie up, and it's Joshua who does the better work on the inside. Joshua opens up, but it allows Franklin to land a big counter. JF lands to the body. It's another close round, but Joshua on volume for me.
Joshua 10-9 Franklin - Joshua 48-47 Franklin
Round 6
There's a lot of hugging but not a lot of punching so far. They trade jabs. Joshua jabs to the chest. Big right from Franklin catches AJ on the way in. Uppercut from Joshua gets the crowd excited, but I'm not sure how much damage it did. Joshua working the jab again. Short right lands from the Brit as Franklin tries to get in close. Double jab AJ. Clear Joshua round.
Joshua 10-9 Franklin - Joshua 58-56 Franklin
Round 7
Joshua with a right. Franklin's jab finds a home. Joshua crouches to throw a body shot then gets out. Nice one-two from Joshua. Joshua's jab is picking up him points here and starting to dominate. They tie up, and Joshua gets in a sneaky uppercut to the side of the head. Joshua jabs. Joshua keeps jabbing then mixes it up with a big right down the middle. They tie up, and Franklin goes for the body. It's another clear AJ round.
Joshua 10-9 Franklin - Joshua 68-65 Franklin
Round 8
Franklin goes on the attack, but he lands nothing. They tie up, and Franklin finally gets to land. Joshua jabs to the body then wins the battle of the jabs. Big right from Joshua has the American looking to hold on. That was the best shot of the fight. The referee stops proceedings to talk to Franklin for some reason. That was bad timing for Joshua. Joshua jabs. Short right hook from Joshua. It turns into a bit of a wrestling match for the best part of a minute. Joshua with a tired looking right that misses by a yard. Joshua looking to his corner mid-clinch. They get in close and Franklin scores with a couple of soft shots.
Joshua 10-9 Franklin - Joshua 78-74 Franklin
Round 9
Hard jab from Joshua, but Franklin lands a big left hook on the counter. They get up close, and Joshua lands a couple of uppercuts to the chin. Joshua with the jab. Franklin manages to easily evade the predictable right from distance. Joshua with a couple more shots to the head. Joshua's jab is lazy, and it allows Franklin to land over the top. The referee gives them both a talking to. Franklin gets inside and lands twice to the body. Big right from Franklin detonates on the cheek of Joshua, but he takes it well. Jab from Joshua. They trade uppercuts.
Joshua 10-9 Franklin - Joshua 88-83 Franklin
Round 10
Joshua jabs with Franklin against the ropes. Nice combo from Joshua, including a big uppercut, but Franklin has the kind of chin that could take a direct hit from a tank. Double jab from Joshua. Right from Joshua, who uses his left hand to hold Franklin away from him. Franklin gets close and lands a big right down the middle. Joshua with a huge uppercut, but both men landed big in that exchange. Jab from the American. Big right Joshua. Joshua senses blood, but JF is dangerous when he's countering. Nice jab from Franklin. Right from Joshua. Left hook from the former Watford drug dealer. That was a fun round.
Joshua 10-9 Franklin - Joshua 98-92 Franklin
Round 11
Franklin must realise he needs a knockout here. They tie up, and Joshua gets in a bit of an uppercut. Hard body shot from Joshua hurts Franklin, who then gets caught up top. Joshua jabs. Left uppercut from Joshua, but Franklin lands a decent counter right. Now it's Franklin's turn to get some bodywork done. Jab from JF. Harder jab from Joshua. Joshua pushes Franklin back with another hard head shot. Right over the top from Franklin.
Joshua 10-9 Franklin - Joshua 108-101 Franklin
Round 12
It's the final round of an ... okay fight. Not a classic, but it's been more fun than wiping my arse, which is more than we can say of the Harlem Eubank fight last night. Not a lot has been thrown a minute into the twelfth. Joshua is not happy with Franklin throwing him to the ropes there. Joshua finally lands a jab. I can't remember the last punch that's landed. Big right hook around the guard from the Brit. Franklin holds on to smother Femi's work. Right hand lands from JF. Send this guy to Ukraine, and he'll just walk through the Russians. Things get a bit wild in the final ten seconds with Joshua getting the better of that exchange. The bell goes, and Joshua and one of Franklin's corner try to fight each other.
Joshua 10-9 Franklin - Joshua 118-110 Franklin