Anthony Joshua suffered a crushing and one-sided defeat today at the hands of Daniel Dubois, dropped four times and stopped in the fifth round of their IBF title fight at Wembley Stadium, but promoter Eddie Hearn doesn’t see any reason that the fight would be the last of Joshua’s career.
Hearn does acknowledge that the 34-year-old Joshua (28-4, 25 KO) is in the home stretch of his career, but thinks there will be big fights out there — and that the all-British showdown between AJ and Tyson Fury is not a dead issue.
Fury, of course, will rematch Oleksandr Usyk for the WBC, WBA, and WBO titles on Dec. 21 in Saudi Arabia.
“I don’t see (today) being a fight that ends (Joshua’s) career, but as I’ve said he’s in the final chapter or chapters of his career, and that’s a big blow, because we fancied winning tonight and fighting the winner of Fury against Usyk, and we may end up fighting the loser of that fight maybe, if it’s Tyson Fury,” Hearn said.
“You’ve got the Dubois rematch, you’ve got other fights out there. But I think it’s really about returning to the gym and having time off and seeing how you come back with Ben (Davison). A lot depends on how you’re performing in the gym.”
Hearn said in the ring post-fight that he expects Joshua to exercise his rematch clause with Dubois (22-2, 21 KO), but the Fury option could be bigger money next year, even if Fury suffers a second straight loss to Usyk.
Though fans are quick to assume fights are dead due to losses, it really comes down to whether or not the fight can be sold, and even in diminished states, Fury vs Joshua could be sold in 2025. It wouldn’t mean what it would have three years or even one year ago, but it would still be a big money fight, and money is what keeps this sport moving and what gets fights done.
The rematch with Dubois is, as Hearn said, still a viable option, too. The fight did not lack for action or entertainment value, and Joshua has attempted to avenge defeats against other fighters in the past. He succeeded in his rematch with Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019, but lost two straight to Usyk in 2021-22.