Jermaine Franklin forced to catch Tube before Anthony Joshua defeat due to travel issues

Jermaine Franklin hopped on the tube to avoid traffic trouble before his points defeat to former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua at the O2 Arena on Saturday

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Sport

Ben Parsons

10:52, 03 Apr 2023Updated 10:55, 03 Apr 2023

[Jermaine Franklin took the tube to his fight against Anthony Joshua]

Jermaine Franklin took the tube to his fight against Anthony Joshua(Image: Getty Images)

Jermaine Franklin was forced to take the Tube to his fight against Anthony Joshua to avoid the London traffic chaos.

The American underdog took Joshua the distance in a durable showing against the two-time world heavyweight champion at the O2 Arena on Saturday night. Franklin was dominated in a battling unanimous decision points defeat - but did his reputation no harm as he avoided the explosive knockout so many had predicted.

And boxing fans visiting the showpiece fight early via the London Underground might have been shocked to see Franklin also utilising the city's rapid transit system.

Humble Franklin - who was working 12-hour factory shifts just last year - hopped on the Jubilee line rather than travelling in luxury to the 20,000 capacity North Greenwich dome.

His manager Sal Jobe explained to The Sun: "We were travelling from Canary Wharf, so it was only one stop because the Blackwall Tunnel is closed.

"Getting from Canary Wharf from The O2 in a car would've been an hour and 30 minutes. And usually, it's 15 minutes. So we travelled from Canary Wharf one step to Greenwich and we had cars waiting for us."

[Franklin took Joshua the distance at the 02 Arena]

Franklin took Joshua the distance at the 02 Arena(Image: PA)

Can Jermaine Franklin be considered an 'elite heavyweight'? Let us know in the comments section

A spirited but limited Franklin landed heavy punches but was ultimately outboxed in his bid to derail a Joshua revival in front of a packed out O2 Arena.

But the 29-year-old's manager Dmitriy Salita is adamant that Franklin proved he can mix it with the best on the big stage and has the raw potential to become a future world champion. "Back-to-back world class performances for Jermaine," Salita told Sky Sports.

"Once again last night Jermaine showed that he has the ability to be an elite heavyweight in the division. Jermaine will learn, grow and I believe has all the skills to be a heavyweight world champion."

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