Nose-bleeding Anthony Joshua defeats Jermaine Franklin in 12 round thriller

English professional boxer of Nigerian descent Anthony Joshua is back to winning in the boxing ring.

The 34-year-old recorded a decision win against American professional boxer Jermaine Franklin late on Saturday, April 1, 2023.

Joshua returned to the ring after a six-month absence and back-to-back defeats against the Ukranian professional boxer Oleksandr Usyk.

Joshua and Franklin were both passive to start the fight throwing lazy jabs and covering up against counter punches.

Both fighters were tense to start but in the second round, Franklin was able to bust open Joshua's nose with a combination of jabs.

Joshua the taller fighter decided to stand at range to start, as he favored his left jab to touch up Franklin from distance.

In the fourth round, Franklin became more confident screaming at Joshua to engage with power shots.

After a good round for the American in the fourth, Joshua responded in the fifth with a barrage of shots to the body that were well-received by a tough contender.

Franklin showed resilience in the middle rounds but was also a threat with spontaneous punches to catch Joshua and keep him honest.

By the ninth round, it was clear the knockout prediction by Joshua was not going to take place as Franklin was still throwing massive bombs and kept believing.

Joshua was by far ahead on the scorecards and Franklin needed a knockout to win the fight.

The American went searching for a weakness in Joshua's stance but got caught with hard shots late.

The fight went the distance and was left for the judges' scorecard after both fighters were involved in a mixture of boxing and wrestling.

Following the final bell, Joshua tapped Franklin on the head which sparked a huge confrontation between the fighters before they were separated by security personnel.

Joshua won 118-111, 117-111, 117-111 via unanimous decision by the judges and speaking after the fight teased a massive battle of Britain against WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury next.