What’s Next For Anthony Joshua After Shock Loss To Daniel Dubois?

Joshua Dubois
Joshua Dubois

Anthony Joshua was stunned by Daniel Dubois on Saturday night, as the underdog came out on top with a convincing fifth round knockout at Wembley Stadium.

Joshua Shocked By Dubois

The 96,000 fans in Wembley on Saturday night were promised a heavyweight bout for the ages between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois and did they ever get one.

Dubois came out all guns blazing and it paid off, as he landed a heavy early blow on Joshua that had the ‘people’s champion’ shook to his core.

‘AJ’ never seemed to recover from the initial early blow and he was clearly rocked in the first few rounds of the fight, despite taunting Dubois while clearly hurt.

The fight began to really develop in the third round, as Joshua was knocked to the canvas for a second time in the bout during what was a surprisingly one sided opening to the affair.

Dubois’ dominance continued and in the fifth round he really made his opponent pay, with a brutal knockout stopping Joshua once and for all.

As AJ lunged in on Dubois, the British heavyweight planted a left jab to Joshua’s temple and the 34-year-old slumped to the floor, unable to lift his head from the canvas.

Who Will Anthony Joshua fight Next?

It’s hard to say where Joshua will head after his loss to Dubois, with a bout against Tyson Fury or Oleksandr Usyk planned for the British star if he won over the weekend.

Joshua did insist post-fight that he isn’t done with boxing and he hopes to continue his career in the ring despite losing to Dubois: “If people want to see me fight, I will fight.”

There is of course the option for a rematch against Dubois in the future, which Eddie Hearn outlined as the most realistic prospect for Joshua’s next fight: “I am sure he’ll exercise that rematch clause. I think that’s a given.

“But he’ll need a rest and it’s a dangerous fight. This guy [Dubois] is growing in confidence all the time but he’ll believe he can hurt Dubois. He’ll believe he can beat him. But full credit to Daniel Dubois, he deserves all the credit tonight, it was a great performance from Daniel.”

Dubois’ win meant that ‘Dynamite’ retained his IBF heavyweight belt, but surely Joshua will come back for another crack at both the belt and his redemption in the ring.

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