Anthony Joshua Frustrated With His Performance Against Jermaine Franklin: ‘I’m Not Happy Because Ultimately The Ultimate Goal Was A Knockout’

Anthony Joshua is frustrated by his performance.

On Saturday in London, Joshua returned to the win column with a rather one-sided decision win over Jermaine Franklin. It was a step in the right direction for the former champ, but Joshua admits he’s not happy with the win because he didn’t get the KO that he was after.

“Deep, deep, deep down, I’m not happy because ultimately the ultimate goal was a knockout,” Joshua said during his post-fight press conference. “There’s nothing that can top a knockout. Anything short of that isn’t what I’m happy with. But it is what it is. As I said, I can’t look back anymore. What’s done is done and I can only build on it. That’s the mindset.”

Anthony Joshua won the fight by scores of 118-111, 117-111, and 117-111. It was a dominant showing from Joshua as he was rarely in danger in the fight. But, he also wasn’t the same aggressive fighter in the past and he knows there were opportunities to get the KO but he came up short in searching for it.

“There was opportunities,” Joshua said. “There was opportunities for sure where I pushed [for a knockout]. But you know what as well? I’m fighting someone who come in with a plan to win. He had a good training camp. You know, you saw him last time out, he went 12 rounds with Dillian [Whyte]. So, he’s fresh. I think he had four months out the ring, so he come off a good 12 rounds with Dillian. He had a good camp this time. He said he’s fit, he’s fresher. So, yeah, he done well. He done well to stay in there. I wish I coulda taken him out.”

With the win, Joshua improved to 25-3 and is now in line to get a big fight and a chance at reclaiming his heavyweight titles.

Were you impressed with Anthony Joshua’s performance?