Anthony Joshua suffered a catastrophic knockout defeat to Daniel Dubois lost month as his plans to become a three-time world champion came crashing down in dramatic fashion. Instantaneously, both he and Eddie Hearn have called for a rematch, although it appears as though an injury may have hampered his plans.
‘AJ’ stepped through the ropes under the Wembley arch with the expectation of becoming boxing’s fifth three-time heavyweight champion but he was instead dispatched with relative ease by underdog Dubois.
From the opening bell onwards, ‘Triple D’ took the initiative and set out to prove why he was a worthy IBF world champion – and that he did.
A first-round knockdown set the tone for proceedings, and it was one-way traffic from there on out, as the poster boy of British boxing was dropped on four occasions, the last of which left Joshua laid face-first on the canvas and unable to beat the count.
Despite the one-sided dismissal of Joshua, the 35-year-old challenger has maintained that he wishes to meet with Dubois for a second time and level the scores, hopeful that a win could also tee-up the long-awaited showdown with Tyson Fury – possibly even for the undisputed heavyweight title.
As a result of Fury’s unified title bout with Usyk in December, Joshua would realistically need to rematch Dubois in February so that he and Fury’s timelines align for a battle in mid 2025.
However, Eddie Hearn told Sky Sports that Joshua is carrying some minor injuries that makes a February return appear too quick of a turnaround, adding that a rematch with Dubois in May would be ‘ideal’.
“Our concern at the moment is just timing,”
“You’ve got a few little niggles, you get them looked at and then you can’t punch again for four, five weeks. If we’re going to fight him in February, we need to start camp in about three weeks’ time. It’s quite a fast turnaround.”
“Ideally we’d like to return around May time. It does feel as though it’s coming on quite quickly.
“From a body perspective we could probably do with a little bit more time ideally. Sometimes it’s not ideal and you just go for it. But we just need to decide are we going to be ready.
“[Joshua] has told me categorically: ‘I want the rematch.’ But it’s just a case of whether he’s going to be ready for February and that’s something they’re going to have to decide.
“It’s not ruled out. But we do appreciate it’s a fast turnaround.”
As for Dubois, he and Frank Warren are raring to go and full of confidence after the brutal beatdown that the IBF heavyweight champion handed his fellow Brit just a few weeks ago, and with Tyson Fury seeming to rule himself out of a meeting with Dubois, the Joshua rematch remains as his most lucrative proposal.
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