Joshua and Franklin carry on fighting after final bell

Anthony Joshua and Jermaine Franklin had to be separated at the end of their contest as they locked horns in the immediate aftermath. Tensions flared as Joshua approached Franklin post-fight before the decision was read out.

At the final bell, Joshua flicked out his hand to touch Franklin’s head but the American was annoyed by it and went to confront Joshua. AJ then turned around and leaned into his foe as they grappled and stumbled backwards towards the away fighter’s corner. At this point, Franklin’s trainer jump up on the ring apron and threw his arms at the Brit, sparking a furious reaction from him before security stepped in to intervene and break up the two teams.

In the end, Joshua won via unanimous decision with scorecards of 118-111, 117-111 and 117-111 in his favour. Throughout the Watford powerhouse remained in relative control in a methodical contest

Taking to the centre from the opening bell he began to establish his thudding jab. But Franklin started to time his advances with lead hand shots of his own, particularly a nice check hook which slipped through AJ’s guard on occasion.

In the second, Joshua opened up with a big right hand that provoked a reaction from Franklin. Planting his feet, Joshua dug in a few beautiful slip-left hooks to the body.

Coming in at a career-heaviest weight of 255.4lb, the Brit looked a little slower on his feet but was educated with his movement, circling away from Franklin’s right hand and constantly changing the angle on his shot. Another sturdy right hand from Joshua landed at the end of the third.

At the quarter-way mark, AJ started to feint and set up traps as Franklin began to grow in confidence and let his hands go. Not much landed but Joshua was the more accurate of the pair.

Franklin appeared to be undeterred by Joshua’s power and so started throwing with his combinations – a risky tactic against such a heavy-handed opponent but one that can pay off for the fighter with the faster hands.

In the sixth, it paid off as Franklin landed a couple of nasty overhand rights, but Joshua responded well by timing a vicious left uppercut as Franklin dipped low. Despite finding a home for some good shots, Franklin continued to allow Joshua to dictate the pace.

The seventh stanza saw Franklin’s brightest portion so far as he doubled and tripled the jab to good effect. Franklin’s corner claimed AJ was tiring but the Brit looked to be preserving his energy well.

There was a fair bit of jabbing and grabbing in rounds eight and nine as Joshua looked to tire his smaller foe by leaning all of his weight on Franklin. But just as things started to get ugly, Joshua came out in the tenth looking dangerous and dynamic, scoring multiple straight right hands.

Franklin replied with a right hand of his own that flashed AJ but Joshua replied in kind with the biggest shot of the fight so far, a massive right uppercut that scrambled the American’s senses. Both men showed good chins.

Heading into the championship rounds, Joshua changed levels and drove home a sweeping right to the body that took the wind out of Franklin’s sails for a moment. As they exchanged on the inside and clinched up, Joshua created space with his shoulder and let the right uppercut go.

In the final round, Joshua landed a right hook that collided with the back of Franklin’s head. Sensing blood in the water, Joshua threw hell to the wind but Franklin covered up well and punched away down the home straight.