Anthony Joshua WILL fight on. There is no doubt. Though some fans, along with some experts, stated after AJ’s nasty knockout defeat at the hands of Daniel Dubois that the 34-year-old should seriously think about calling it a career, Eddie Hearn, speaking with IFL TV, said that Joshua is already “in rehab” and is telling him he “can’t wait” to get back in there.
(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)
All that remains to be confirmed now is who Joshua will fight when he does fight again and when and where. Hearn broke it down as follows:
“If Fury was to lose [the rematch with Usyk], maybe they (AJ and Fury) both say, ‘Right, let’s give the public one last hurrah, two big fights, done,” Hearn said. “Or, if Fury wins, he could defend against AJ for the unified world heavyweight title, and AJ could beat him and become a three-time heavyweight champion. Anything’s possible. We could rematch Daniel Dubois, or [AJ] could fight someone else. Deontay Wilder. I dunno….it’s not something that’s been discussed yet, but two guys coming off defeats, big punchers, someone’s got to go from the sport. But for me, the options are rematch Daniel Dubois or wait and see what happens in Fury against Usyk.”
We don’t know for sure if Wilder will ever box again, although his trainer, Malik Scott, suggests this could well be the case. AJ going back in with Dubois seems like a bad idea to many, with the form book suggesting Dubois repeats his crushing KO win in a sequel. But Hearn said to IFL that he is sure Joshua can beat Dubois if he boxes better and doesn’t make the mistakes he made in the fight at Wembley.
As for Fury wanting to fight Joshua, whether he has beaten Usyk or has lost to him a second time, is there any real chance Fury will even want the fight? As Hearn said, anything’s possible, but this much is certain: Joshua would be at real risk of being beaten for a fifth time if he did fight either Dubois, Wilder, or Fury upon his return to the ring. A return that really does seem, for better or for worse, dead-set to happen.
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