Missing 90% of His Jabs! Anthony Joshua Cannot Underestimate Jermaine Franklin: ‘AJ’ vs. ‘989 Assassin’ by the Numbers

A close study of the numbers suggests while Anthony Joshuamissed 90% of his jabs, he simultaneously improved his game. Although he lost his rematch against Oleksandr Usyk, Joshua impressively landed more power punches than he did in their first fight. According to the study conducted, it is revealed that Usyk only exceeded ‘AJ’ by a little over 3% in their last fight in a certain case.

Recently, Joshua promised to retire from professional boxing provided he lost to Jermaine Franklin. However, numbers suggest Franklin has not only equaled ‘AJ’ but also done better than the British boxer in certain cases. The numbers that were exploited in this study were provided by CompuBox Punch Stats via BoxingScene. While some percentiles are disappointing, others are totally mind-boggling.

Anthony Joshua missed almost 90% of his jabs!

Being 6 inches taller than Franklin, Joshua enjoys a reach advantage of 12cm. Undoubtedly, a busy jab will help ‘AJ’ keep Franklin at a distance. However, in his last fight and rematch with Oleksandr Usyk, Joshua reportedly landed only 10.8% of his jabs, as per BoxingScene. That is to say, he missed almost 90% of the jabs he threw at Usyk! However, the numbers were relatively better when Joshua squared off against Kubrat Pulev and Andy Ruiz Jr. in their rematch. Respectively, against Ruiz Jr. (rematch) and Pulev, the percentages were 24.1% and 34.9%. And in both cases, Joshua won the fight.

Hence, with an increase in the jabs landed, Joshua subsequently increased his chances of winning the fights. Certainly, if ‘AJ’ lands an effective amount of jabs against Franklin, he would benefit. On the other hand, despite losing in his last fight against Dillian Whyte, Franklin reportedly landed 19% of his jabs. Scoring more jabs than Joshua, Franklin would definitely get a tight grip inside the ring.

Usyk exceeded Joshua by a little over 3%: ‘AJ’ improved his game

In his rematch against Oleksandr Usyk, on average in a single round, Joshua landed 36.1% of his power punches. Whereas, exceeding by only 3.6%, in a single round Usyk landed 39.7% of his power punches on average. It is interesting to note how well Joshua improved his game although he lost the rematch against Usyk. In their first encounter, landing 42.1% of his power punches on average, Usyk exceeded Joshua by almost 10%, the figure for ‘AJ’ being 32.6%. In the rematch, ‘AJ’ shortened the gap by over 7%!

Undoubtedly, given the numbers, the British boxer fought a better fight in his rematch against ‘The Cat’. Against Wladimir Klitschko who was knocked out by ‘AJ’, the latter landed 33.8% of his power punches in a single round on average. Certainly, the number slightly fell when Joshua faced Usyk for the first time. However, at Joshua vs. Usyk II, ‘AJ’ was more accurate. Hence, Franklin shall look forward to facing an improved ‘AJ’ who has hopefully learned from his mistakes. Further study into the matter suggests a striking parallel between Joshua and Franklin.

Jermaine Franklin has equaled ‘AJ’

In his last fight against Dillian Whyte, Franklin reportedly landed precisely 105 of his power punches out of the 291 he threw at his opponent. In another language, Franklin landed 36.1% of his power punches equalling Joshua in the latter’s rematch with Usyk. While Usyk exceeded Joshua by 3.6%, Whyte exceeded Franklin by 4%. Joshua, who took up boxing because of Mike Tyson, stated in a recent interview that he would retire if he lost to Franklin. However, given these figures, from one angle one could easily argue that ‘AJ’ and Franklin were almost on the same page.

Moreover, there are instances where Franklin left Joshua behind. In Franklin’s last fight, the same landed 19% of his jabs and 27.2% of his total punches. Whereas, Joshua in his last fight landed 10.8% of his jabs and 25.2% of his total punches. Looks like, ‘AJ’ cannot entirely underestimate Franklin. However, it must also be acknowledged that while Franklin lost to Whyte, Joshua knocked him out.

Read More: Mathematics Says Ryan Garcia Has a Better Chance at Knocking Out Gervonta Davis: ‘Tank’ vs. ‘KingRy’ by the Numbers

Given the figures, what do you expect from Joshua vs. Franklin? Do you predict a KO in the fight? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

Watch This Story: Anthony Joshua vs Jermaine Franklin Stats: Record, Height, Reach, Age, and Knockout Ratio