GRADES: ANTHONY JOSHUA, JERMAINE FRANKLIN, ROBEISY RAMIREZ, ISAAC DOGBOE & MORE

By: Jay Calderon

Had a solid week of boxing, with a new champion crowned and the return of a former Heavyweight titlist as well.

Early on Saturday in London, we saw Anthony Joshua return to winning ways with a decision over American Jermaine Franklin. Then, later in the day for the States, Robeisy Ramirez earned the nod over Isaac Dogboe, picking up a vacant Featherweight Title in the process.

On the Ramirez-Dogboe undercard, Joet Gonzalez ground out a decision over the very tough Enrique Vivas over ten frames.

So, with all that in mind,lets hand out these Grades.

ANTHONY JOSHUA: B-

RESULT: DEF. JERMAINE FRANKLIN, 12UD (HEAVYWEIGHT)

When considering what sort of grade you hand out, ultimately, you have to examine the original assignment.

For Anthony Joshua, you must ask, what did you hope he would accomplish for himself in a bout with Jermaine Franklin?

If it's a quick night's work, and an easy knockout win, then the big man failed miserably, going the distance over twelve pedestrian rounds. However, should you have hoped he out forth that sort of performance?

For entertainment's sake? Sure. However, for his long-term success in the game, Joshua likely needed a fight like the Franklin encounter.

I completely understand someone wanting "the old AJ back", the giant that pulverized opponents on his way to the top of the sport. The issue is "the old AJ" don't exist. That fighter got hurt, got dropped, and got stopped -- and Joshua soon realized he wanted no parts of that back and forth. For better or worse, AJ just isn't that guy anymore.

So, at this point, with a new trainer and coming off the back of two losses, Joshua needed to settle himself, control the fight and get a win. Nothing more, nothing less. He did that.

Could it have been more clinical? More entertaining? Sure. But it couldn't have been much more helpful, as he got just about everything he needed out of the contest.

JERMAINE FRANKLIN: C-
RESULT: LOSS TO ANTHONY JOSHUA, 12UD (HEAVYWEIGHT)

As mentioned with Anthony Joshua, in order to hand out a decent grade, you have to keep in mind the assignment. With that said: What was the assignment for Jermaine Franklin.

If you're a complete black and white observer, his aim should be to win. In that respect, he failed. However, most fans, and the betting odds that had Franklin at around a +650, that wasn't the real expectation. The hope, realistically, that Franklin put in a good account of himself.

In that sense, he gets a passing grade, but didn't really pass with flying colors. Franklin showed he can take a punch, and thst he has sound fundamental skills. He's a capable professional. Against most in the bottom half of the top 20, he will do well.

However, against a solid pro like Joshua that might have been at his most vulnerable, Franklin just fell short in almost every department.

Franklin can come back, perhaps challenge the next up-and-coming Heavyweight when a promoter wants his charge to capitalize on the name recognition Franklin has recently acquired. However, if he's to make that opportunity count, Franklin will need to do more.

ROBEISY RAMIREZ: A-
RESULT: DEF. ISAAC DOGBOE, 12UD (FEATHERWEIGHT)

To some degree, I want to hand Robeisy Ramirez a lower grade. However, if I'm being honest, that's more to do with my expectation of Ramirez in this contest than the actual performance itself.

Thinking highly of Ramirez, I expected an even more dominant performance by Robeisy. To be honest, I felt as though Ramirez should have gotten rid of Isaac Dogboe, a fighter beyond his best days that has shown signs of struggling with limited fighters in recent outings.

However, that's not how I should look at this fight. Because the truth of the matter is that Ramirez more or less dominated the action, won the fight by primarily using the left hand and never really getting out of second gear.

Could he improve? Of course. That said, in just 13 pro fights and on the right side of 30, Ramirez has won his first world title and looks poised to make a real push to take over 126 pounds.

That's if the other titlists will eventually take on the challenge. Regardless, Ramirez did quite well for a guy who "only has a left hand".

ISAAC DOGBOE: C+
RESULT: LOSS TO ROBEISY RAMIREZ, 12UD (FEATHERWEIGHT)

Isaac Dogboe might not be completely finished in the sport of boxing. That said, he doesn't seem quite able to get it done against the very top of the Featherweight division.

Since his back-to-back losses to Emanuel Navarrete back in 2018 and 2019, respectively, Dogboe just hasn't been the same fighter. While he's managed to string together a few wins before the Robeisy Ramirez loss on Saturday, he hasn't been the Dogboe of old.

In his earlier days, Dogboe was ready to step in and go to war. He was ready to find out what you had. If you didn't have enough, you were going to fold. Now, Dogboe only does that in spurts. At other times, he seems timid and unable to commit over the course of the whole fight.

That, in a nutshell, is what you saw in Dogboe against Ramirez. He wasn't awful, he made the final bell and even won a few rounds. However, it wasn't a performance that suggests he will be making another push towards a world title.

At just 28 years of age -- a year younger than Ramirez for what that's worth -- Dogboe might have a tough road back to the top of the sport.

JOET GONZALEZ: B+
RESULT: DEF. ENRIQUE VIVAS, 10UD (FEATHERWEIGHT)

If this grade was for participating in the fight of the weekend, Joet Gonzalez and Enrique Vivas would be receiving A+ results. The pair thrilled in an all action fight that ultimately saw Gonzalez do more most of the time and earn a wife unanimous decision.

However, the issue for Gonzalez is that he's a fighter that seems to have more talent than he often times puts forth in his fights. They are tougher than they need to be sometimes, and he doesn't always do enough when he should be pressing the action at times. In some ways, he just seems to miss the mark in those bigger moments.

Against a limited Vivas, Gonzalez had the fight in hand. You never really got the sense that an upset might take place. However, I at least felt as though this was taking lord out of Joet than it should.

He was out landing his man for sure, but he was still in far more of a brawl than needed. He could have boxed a bit more, landed in flurries and limited the returns. Instead, he elected to stand and trade on the inside far too many times.

Gonzalez got the well deserved win and could be in line for a title shot in the not-too-distant future. So, it can't be all bad. It just always feels like it could be better for Joet Gonzalez.

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