Dillian Whyte set to roll on to Anthony Joshua fight in 2023 after tight points win over Jermaine Franklin

Brixton heavyweight Dillian Whyte looks set to move on to a 2023 showdown with Anthony Joshua after making a winning return to the ring on Saturday night.

The South Londoner earned a majority points win over American Jermaine Franklin at Wembley Arena.

Franklin, a 7/1 underdog heading into the bout, claimed he had been “robbed”.

One judge scored it 115-115 with Bermondsey’s two-weight world champion David Haye, on punditry duty, scoring it 115-115 going into the final round. But the two other judges had it a wider 116-112 for Whyte (29-3).

“I felt that I got robbed,” said Franklin. “I felt I won the earlier rounds. I’m down for a rematch if they give it to me. I proved a lot of people wrong.”

Whyte struggled to impose himself on his opponent, who had a 21-0 record but had been both relatively inactive and also not faced any top calibre fighters.

He would need a major improved against Joshua, who won plaudits despite losing his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk in August. The former WBA, IBF and WBO world champion was ringside to watch prospective opponents.

“It was hard because I’m boxing to new instructions,” said Whyte, who switched head trainer to Buddy McGirt after his stoppage loss to Tyson Fury in April. “We’re trying to upgrade the style. I probably could’ve been a bit more active and let off my big shots but I’m coming from a defeat and a new coach – I’ve got to listen sometimes and believe in my coach.

“We had a six-week training camp. They thought I was open to the uppercut but I locked that shit down.

“I’m ready for whatever [next]. I want to go home and see my family and my dogs, spend some time with my family. I miss my family, I miss my kids and I miss my dogs. I miss my dogs a lot.”

Matchroom Boxing boss Eddie Hearn said: “Dillian Whyte had to win the championship rounds to win that fight. When I got in the ring afterwards he asked me and I said: ‘I think it’s very close’. He said: ‘I won the fight easy’. I think he needed to win 10, 11 and 12 and he did to edge out that fight.

“It was a great performance by Jermaine Franklin.

“AJ is here. His fight date will be announced next week. I’d like it to be Dillian Whyte but he’ll have a rest. Maybe AJ goes first in March and we do it in the summer. But that’s the fight to make next.”

PICTURES: MARK ROBINSON/MATCHROOM BOXING