Anthony Joshua Betting: AJ’s Top Five Moments
It’s time for Anthony Joshua to redeem himself. The former heavyweight champion makes his return to the ring this Saturday when he takes on Jermaine Franklin at the O2 Arena in London – right in Joshua’s backyard. And it might be a quick fight, too, with Joshua priced at –1200 on the Anthony Joshua betting board ahead of the big night.
Franklin (+700) can’t be overlooked, though – and Joshua desperately needs a win to get his career back on track. Everything started falling apart in 2019 when Joshua suffered his first loss at the hands of Andy Ruiz Jr; Joshua won the rematch and regained his collection of titles, then promptly lost them again to Oleksandr Usyk in 2021.
He’s still waiting for redemption. Joshua (24-3, 22 KOs) dropped last year’s rematch with Usyk by split decision and had something of a nervous breakdown afterwards. Now he’s on a new fight contract with DAZN, working his way back up the ladder for another shot at the titles and that elusive big-money fight down the road with Tyson Fury.
Step One is beating Franklin (21-1, 14 KOs) this Saturday. Franklin is coming off the first loss of his career and a controversial one at that. The Michigan native fell to Dillian Whyte by 12-round majority decision last November at Wembley, fading late in his first-ever match beyond 10 rounds and losing by the slimmest of margins in Whyte’s hometown.
Franklin appears to be slimmer himself coming into Saturday’s contest, so maybe he’s learned a thing or two from his experience versus Whyte. If he pulls off the upset, it’ll be the biggest moment of his boxing career – but hardly a highlight moment for Joshua.
With that in mind, Bodog Sportsbook is pleased to bring you Anthony Joshua Betting: AJ’s Top Five Moments, as selected by the man himself in an interview with DAZN held just before he dropped the heavyweight titles to Usyk.
5. Joshua-Johnson (May 30, 2015, O2 Arena, London)
This was the first really big test for Joshua as a pro. He was 12-0 at the time, still relatively fresh from his gold-medal performance at the 2012 London Olympics. His opponent, Kevin Johnson (29-6-1), was an experienced veteran who had fought Vitali Klitschko for the WBC heavyweight title in 2009, losing by unanimous decision. Johnson also went the distance with Fury in 2012 before taking the L.
The buzz heading into this contest: Would Joshua put an early end to Johnson like he’d done to everyone else at that point? Or would Johnson extend Joshua past his breaking point? We got our answer in the second round when Joshua won handily via TKO, the first stoppage loss in Johnson’s career.
4. Joshua-Whyte (December 12, 2015, O2 Arena, London)
Before Joshua’s first run with a major heavyweight title, he faced Whyte for the vacant British title, still a respected regional belt after 130 years of existence. Joshua also put his Commonwealth and WBC International titles on the line; Whyte (16-0) was the WBC International Silver champ, and had beaten Joshua by points as an amateur in 2009.
There would be no winning by points in the rematch. These two slugged it out for seven rounds, with Joshua gradually taking over control, before he left Whyte on his back to earn the TKO. This was the first pro fight for Joshua that had gone past the third round, and a sign of what was to come soon after.
3. Joshua-Klitschko (April 29, 2017, Wembley Stadium, London)
This might be Joshua’s true No. 1 moment. Wladimir Klitschko (64-4) was the opponent this time, and taking one more shot at heavyweight glory at age 41 after losing his titles to Fury two years earlier. It was the second defense of Joshua’s IBF title, as well as a unification match with the vacant WBA and IBO championships on the line in front of 90,000 screaming supporters.
What a fight this was. Klitschko recovered from a fifth-round knockdown to put Joshua down in the sixth. The outcome was still a toss-up until Joshua found another gear and overwhelmed Klitschko in the 11th for a storybook TKO finish.
2. Martin-Joshua (April 9, 2016, O2 Arena, London)
Shortly after Joshua’s win over Whyte for the British belt, he got his first crack at a major title when he met IBF champion Charles Martin, a southpaw from St. Louis and another undefeated opponent at 23-0-1. Martin had just won the vacant strap 85 days earlier after his opponent, Vyacheslav Glazkov, slipped and tore his ACL in the third round.
It turned out to be the second-shortest heavyweight title reign in boxing history. Joshua knocked down Martin twice in the second round before the fight was waved off; he considers this one of his top highlights because he used his technical skills to win after going toe-to-toe with Whyte.
1. Ruiz-Joshua II (December 7, 2019, Diriyah Arena, Saudi Arabia)
The loss to Ruiz – a +900 underdog at Bodog when the boxing lines closed – was a very disappointing one for AJ, and certainly the biggest shock to date in terms of Anthony Joshua betting. He was unusually passive in the early rounds before finally knocking down Ruiz in third, but the challenger quickly turned things around and ended up winning by seventh-round TKO. Joshua needed a victory here to answer his critics and put him back on top of the division.
After dropping about 10 pounds and working on his mental game, Joshua didn’t make the same mistakes against Ruiz (33-1), who was clearly heavier and less prepared than he was for their first fight. Joshua dominated the early rounds in his comeback fight, sticking with a technically sound game plan, and earned the clear unanimous decision for his efforts.
Will Joshua show the same discipline and resiliency in his latest comeback effort? Or will Franklin cut his momentum off right away? All will be revealed this Saturday. Keep checking in with Bodog Sportsbook for the latest Joshua vs. Franklin odds, and enjoy the fight.