After defeating Franklin by a majority decision at The O2, the British heavyweight star has been linked to fights with Dillian Whyte and Tyson Fury.
Joshua, however, appeared to suffer a nose injury during the bout, and he subsequently posted on social media that he would be taking a long break from the sport.
“My next fight is scheduled for December. Not ideal but everything is part of a bigger picture,” Joshua announced via his Instagram Story.
This is coming days after his promoter Eddie Hearn said Joshua could return to the ring in July. During the same period, the British boxer who waited for 9 months before his bout with Franklin said he does not want to wait for more than three months before returning to the rings.
Recall that Joshua’s ranking in the heavyweight category dropped drastically when Oleksandr Usyk beat him in 2021 to win the unified heavyweight championships of the WBA, WBO, and IBF. Things got worse for Joshua when he was unable to reclaim them as Usyk defeated him again in 2022.
“I’m going to keep on pushing and plugging away. Maybe I could have let my hands go more [against Franklin]. Maybe this, maybe that”, Joshua said after his victory over American boxer Franklin on April 1, 2023.
“That’s all the past now and all we can look forward to is what’s going to happen in the future. It’s just good to be back and getting the ball rolling. We’re climbing, we’re climbing the ladder once again.”
He added, “I’m passionate. Self-driven. Motivated. No one forces me to do this. No one forces me to get up in the morning and run. It’s tough.
“But there’s something in you that’s like, ‘Come on, you’ve got to fight, you’ve got to win.’ The minute you start losing that desire, you’ve got to be real with yourself.”
