Former world champion Anthony Joshua is set to the return to the ring with a fight against American Jermaine Franklin at the O2 Arena in London on April 1.
Franklin, who was beaten by Dillian Whyte in November, is expected to face Joshua with The Mail reporting that the paperwork was signed on Monday afternoon. Joshua will be hoping that Franklin can act as a confidence builder, with the British fighter having lost three of his last four fights.
He was offered the chance to fight against Tyson Fury following his most recent defeat to Oleksandr Usyk in December. However, Fury pulled out of negotiations when talks did not progress fast enough for the WBC heavyweight champion of the world and their December date could not be agreed.
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Fury is now expected to face Usyk in March or April of this year, while Joshua will face a very different task with Franklin hoping to bounce back from his first career defeat to Whyte. The fight will take place in Joshua's home city of London with an April 1 date expected at the O2 Arena, where Joshua has not fought since beating Dominic Breazeale there in 2016.
It is a huge fight in Joshua's career, with any defeat leaving him with a mountain to climb to become a world champion once again. However, a win could see him enter the conversation for contests against some of the biggest names in the heavyweight division once again.
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