The final bell sounded early, but the fight finished late. Even after Anthony Joshua and Jermaine Franklin had finished trading blows, they were trading barbs in the ring. Meanwhile, outside of the squared circle, there was the threat of fists being thrown.
In some ways, it was the most exciting spell of the night, following a cluster of 12 messy rounds. The blood smeared on Joshua's pristine white shorts, and on the white shirt of the referee, was symbolic of the fight that could have been, rather than the fight that was. And for "AJ", this was arguably a case of the win that should have been, rather than the win that was.
