ANTHONY JOSHUA has confirmed his April 1 comeback against Jermaine Franklin.
The 33-year-old London 2012 legend lost his WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight world titles after back-to-back losses to Oleksandr Usyk.
And he turned down a December Battle of Britain with WBC Gypsy King Tyson Fury to focus on his rebuild.
That starts at the O2 on April Fools Day, with AJ under the guidance of new American trainer Derrick James.
And Watford’s two-time champ says fans should get excited about his latest reincarnation.
He tweeted confirmation of the fight on Monday afternoon alongside a promo picture and the caption: “A New Dawn 🌅”.
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It is the first time in eight years that Joshua will NOT be fighting on pay-per-view, with the bout available to DAZN subscribers.
However, those who are not subscribed to DAZN will have to either pay £19.99 for a one-month subscription, £9.99 per month for a full year, or £99.99 as a one-off payment for a full 12-month subscription.
One person fuming about the bout is Dillian Whyte, who outpointed Franklin in November under the impression it was a semi-final for the Joshua showdown.
The score between the pair is 1-1 and the 34-year-old Brixton Body Snatcher is raging he has been refused the chance to settle it.
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Whyte told SunSport: “Everyone was told, all the boxing fans, that the winner of me and Franklin fights AJ, so this is a f***ed up thing.
“I would have been better off losing the Franklin fight and getting the AJ fight!
“It’s no surprise to me that they have chosen April 1 for this battle of the fools.”
AJ was supposed to enjoy a December 17 gimme comeback – to recover from the two punishing points defeats he suffered against the Ukraine ace – and then fight Whyte in April.
But that plan was another dud and now he is set to meet the modest American who was working in a roof insulation factory last year to feed his family.
Whyte feels like he and the boxing fans are getting stuffed over this bout and he will not sit out in the cold until the summer.
He even worries another AJ loss against the tough Michigan man will leave their third clash in tatters and a lot of people looking silly.
“It hasn’t shocked me,” he said. “The people around Joshua are in the business of looking after him and running their whole operation around him.
“I faced Franklin, the most dangerous and undefeated version of him, and beat him. He has lost his momentum and belief and he is easy pickings for Joshua now.
“It was the first big fight of his career, Eddie was promising him many millions to fight AJ if he beat me, that was the fight of his life, and now he’s just an opponent.
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“It’s not marinating the fight between me and Joshua, we’ve been waiting seven years already for it.
“It’s protecting AJ because they all know that if he loses again he will probably jack it in and a lot of people will be left with their limp d***s in their hands.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
