Anthony Joshua accepts April 1 boxing against Jermaine Franklin... Eddie Hearn insists that fight is not signed

ANTHONY JOSHUA has agreed to make his boxing return against Jermaine Franklin – but the fight is NOT signed.

AJ is coming off consecutive losses to Oleksandr Usyk and is set to come back on April 1 at the O2 Arena.

According to Sky Sports News, both Joshua and Franklin have agreed terms to the fight.

But promoter Eddie Hearn insisted neither have officially signed despite ongoing talks.

Hearn told iD Boxing: “The contract is not signed for that fight but he’s the guy that I think it will be. He has been for a while.

“We’ll look to tie that up, April 1st is the date, you’ll get an AJ press conference next week.”

Joshua, 33, has linked up with new trainer Derrick James in Texas following double defeat by Usyk, 36.

He watched from ringside in November as Dillian Whyte, 34, edged past Franklin, 29, in a disputed decision win.

It has set up the pair of amateur rivals-turned professional opponents for a summer stadium rematch.

But Whyte – who beat AJ in the unpaid ranks but lost in the pros in 2015 – voiced his anger to SunSport at not getting Joshua next.

But Hearn responded: “I feel that Franklin gave Dillian Whyte a tremendous fight and it was a very, very competitive and close fight.

“So I don’t see why it’s a bad fight for Anthony Joshua. Anthony Joshua has no problem fighting Dillian Whyte.

“I think it’s a stadium fight, we can do that fight next, AJ’s teamed up with a new trainer after losing two on the bounce against the pound-for-pound No1.

“It’s a very good fight. Competitive fight and I guess the comparisons will be.

“Let’s see how Anthony Joshua does against Jermaine Franklin versus how Dillian Whyte did versus Jermaine Franklin and then we’ll see.”