Did Anthony Joshua need to knock out Jermaine Franklin?

In what was his first fight on British soil since September 2021, it was expected Joshua would be able to make easy work of an opponent who some consider is not a top level heavyweight. 

Franklin however gave a good account of himself in front of a packed O2 Arena, going the full distance with the former two-time world heavyweight champion despite being on the end of some brutal shots from Joshua and this was something DAZN Boxing Show host Barak Bess wanted to highlight. 

"Whyte couldn’t get him [Jermaine Franklin] out of there, Whyte couldn’t stop him, guess what he has an amazing chin, we’re finding that out now," Bess said on The DAZN Boxing Show. 

"This is the way you beat the guy that has the amazing chin, that got hit with right hands and did not move.

"The only shot that hurt him was a leather brown shot to the body."

One of the criticims aimed at Joshua following the contest was that he was too reserved when throwing his punches, but DAZN Boxing Show host Akin 'Ak' Reyes, who was ringside in London, believes there were plenty of positives in the performance and is a good start to Joshua's time with new trainer Derrick James. 

"There were times in that fight where he landed the right hand and he was in a perfect position to follow up with the left hook, and he didn’t, he pulled back and re-established the jab," Reyes began.

"That’s good boxing, good textbook boxing. You’re not taking many risks in there; you’re winning each round easily and I thought he did that for the most part.

"There were moments in that fight in the pocket he engaged, he threw some right uppercuts to the body and followed up with that left hook, but he was dealing with a guy who had a tough chin and maybe this was the start of a good thing with Derrick James."

Watch the full breakdown of Joshua vs. Franklin on The DAZN Boxing Show here.