Anthony Joshua is not planning to fight before December in a complete reversal of his comments after beating Jermaine Franklin.
Joshua won a unanimous decision over Franklin, but the victory was not very impressive, as the Brit failed to lay down the gauntlet and knock out his opponent, which many had expected.
Despite this being the case, Joshua made it known that he was looking for his next fight in the summer, with rumors linking him with Dillian Whyte or even an outside shot at Tyson Fury.
12 weeks. Go again. @anthonyjoshua ✅#JoshuaFranklin pic.twitter.com/Bs0VhQjNAl
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) April 2, 2023
While that may have been the case, it appears that Joshua has now changed his tune. This is entirely understandable, given the nature of Joshua’s career to date.
He is in a rebuilding process, having hired the services of Derrick James. That relationship will naturally take time to develop, which is why an extended period out of the ring will give Joshua ample time to put in the hard yards.
Anthony Joshua on Instagram today stating that his next fight will now be in December, not July as previously hoped… pic.twitter.com/JKEVMQpfVa
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) April 9, 2023
In addition, since the heavyweight belts are tied up between Oleksandr Usyk, who has mandatories to deal with, as well as the perception that Fury is difficult to deal with, a big name is not forthcoming.
And yet, Eddie Hearn appeared to throw another curveball when he was asked about Joshua’s plans on fighting in December.
Will we at least find out why he’s not fighting until December soon?
— 𝙊𝙬𝙚𝙣 @ SWCL (@owen02_) April 9, 2023
However, Joshua decides to proceed, he knows that he cannot have further slip ups if he desires to be the king of the division.