Why Anthony Joshua is urged to WAIT for Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury 2 before accepting Daniel Dubois rematch
ANTHONY JOSHUA is being advised to WAIT for Tyson Fury to fight Oleksandr Usyk again before making a decision on rematching Daniel Dubois.
Joshua was brutally dropped FOUR times before being knocked out in round five by Dubois in front of a British-record 98,000 fans.
Among those in the historic London crowd were Usyk, 37, and Fury, 36, who rematch on December 21 in Saudi Arabia.
Usyk won the first in May but was forced to vacate the IBF belt to proceed with the rematch back in Riyadh.
Victory or even defeat for Fury opens the door for a fight with Joshua, meaning a Dubois rematch may not be next.
Promoter Eddie Hearn told : "My advice is don't do anything until December 21, Usyk versus Fury.
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"If Tyson Fury loses that fight, you set up a big fight with Anthony Joshua.
"If Tyson Fury wins that fight, you make a voluntary defence against Anthony Joshua for the unified heavyweight championship.
"If AJ is looking at a couple of big fights in 2025, and there is an opportunity to still fight Tyson Fury - because it's still the biggest fight in the division by a mile - I think that's something we should look at as well.
"Even in defeat, he's still the biggest star in Britain with Tyson Fury, and possibly around the world.
'Are you not entertained? I'm a gladiator' - What Dubois and Joshua said after brutal fight
DANIEL DUBOIS annihilated Anthony Joshua’s dream of becoming a three-time world heavyweight champion, writes Wally Downes Jr.
Joshua was floored FOUR times as Dubois landed an astonishing fifth-round knockout in front of a record 96,000 Wembley crowd and millions of TV viewers to retain his IBF belt.
AJ, 34, never recovered after being downed in the first round of last night’s Battle of Britain showdown as a huge Dubois right-hand haymaker caught him flush on the chin.
Here's what they said after the fight:
DANIEL DUBOIS
“Are you not entertained? I’m a gladiator, a warrior to the bitter end. This is the biggest win of my career. I couldn’t let this opportunity go and now I want to go to the top level of this game.
“I’ve been on a roller-coaster ride and this is my time. I’m not gonna stop until I reach my full potential.”
ANTHONY JOSHUA
“As p***ed off as I am, it is what it is.
“I had a sharp, fast opponent and there were a lot of mistakes from me. Credit to my opponent and his team.
“We rolled the dice and came up short. You know I’m p***ed but I’m going to keep cool and give respect to my opponent.”
FRANK WARREN (DUBOIS' PROMOTER)
“It was a phenomenal fight, like Hagler v Hearns.
“A brilliant fight and everybody has seen a champion’s performance tonight.
“Daniel has shown his courage, his skills.
“AJ caught him with a shot towards the end and I was worried, but what a fabulous, fantastic fight.”
EDDIE HEARN (AJ'S PROMOTER)
“AJ shipped a huge right hand in the first round and was fighting on heart.
“He hurt Daniel at the end of the fourth and then again in the fifth, but got greedy and walked on to a right hand and that’s all she wrote.
“I’m sure Anthony will exercise the rematch clause.”
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"He doesn't want to lose, but as we close the chapters to his career he'll be looking for the biggest fights."
Hearn initially claimed there is a rematch clause in the contract between Joshua, 34, and Dubois, 27.
But opposite number Frank Warren insisted the IBF champion is not obligated to an immediate rerun.
Hearn has maintained that Dubois does remain an option for Joshua next as he said: "At the moment, it's about looking at the options for Anthony.
"It's all very fresh at the moment, just over 24 hours after the fight, plenty of options to consider."
"We have the opportunity to fight a number of opponents with Riyadh Season and Daniel Dubois could be one of them.
"If that was something we wanted to push with Riyadh Season and His Excellency [Turki Alalshikh] we could, but at the same time also being open to looking at other fights as well, particularly focusing on December 21 as well."