Tickets not selling for Anthony Joshua vs. Jermaine Franklin on April 1 at O2 Arena in London

By Boxing News - 03/05/2023 - Comments

By Barry Holbrook: Anthony Joshua’s fight against Jermaine Franklin on April 1 at the O2 Arena in London has “thousands” of unsold tickets, according to Gareth A. Davies. Things are starting to look desperate.

There’s concern that the Joshua-Franklin fight won’t sell out,  which could signal that Joshua’s star power is beginning to fade after two consecutive defeats and three losses in his last five contests. Eddie Hearn may need to work his magic to get the tickets to sell.

Gareth believes that the fans are reacting to being disappointed with Joshua vs. Tyson Fury fight not happening last year. That’s the one that the boxing world wanted to see, particularly fans in the UK.

After that big letdown, British fans, not surprisingly, are less than eager to purchase tickets to watch Joshua fight the American Franklin, who is coming off a loss to Dillian Whyte last November at the Wembley Arena.

In hindsight, Joshua should have picked another opponent like Whyte, Joe Joyce of Deontay Wilder instead of Franklin.

“Boxing fans have made their feelings known about Anthony Joshua’s bout with Jermaine Franklin on April the 1st with a lot of tickets, thousands of tickets still left unsold at the O2 Arena,” said Gareth A. Davies to talk SPORT Boxing.

“What is the issue with AJ right now? He’s always had a less is more strategy. Is it time for a change?” Davies said about Joshua. “It’s been six years since he fought Klitschko, which was a massive event at Wembley Stadium.

“We thought we were going to get a fight between him and Tyson Fury. It didn’t materialize. There’s a feeling he’s being protected in some ways. The two defeats to Oleksandr Usyk. The first one, he didn’t turn up on the night at Spurs.

“The last one we were working and commentating on last August in Saudi Arabia. He just fell in the last few rounds of that fight. He was so close, but the boxing skills outdid him in those last few rounds.

“I feel like he needs something; he needs something big. He just needs the optics that he’s back to being that big lump, that big destroyer that licks his lips and goes into battle,” said Gareth.

“He needs that rawness that took him to the heavyweight title,” said Spencer Oliver about Joshua.

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