Eddie Hearn revealed that Anthony Joshua has a rematch clause to force a second fight against IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois after being knocked out in the fifth round by him on Saturday night in London.
Hearn didn’t say whether Joshua (28-4, 23 KOs) will activate the rematch clause immediately or later. Joshua will need to consider this decision carefully because he did not look good tonight, getting knocked down repeatedly in the short five-round fight.
The 27-year-old Dubois had youth on his side tonight, beating the living daylights out of the 34-year-old Joshua, who was nothing like the fighter he’d been during his prime.
Age appeared to have caught up to Joshua tonight, with him looking slow and his punch resistance gone.
“Are you not entertained? I’m a gladiator, I’m a warrior to the bitter end and I’m just ready to go. This is my time, this is my redemption story, and I’m not going to stop until I reach my full potential,” said Daniel Dubous after the fight.
Joshua seemingly never recovered from a first-round knockdown he suffered tonight. In the final seconds of the first round, Dubois connected with a short right hand that he wasn’t expecting, and the punch looked like it may have concussed the former champ. After that round, Joshua was on skates in rounds two, three, four, and five.
Dubois put Joshua down with a blistering punch in the third round, and it’s unclear how AJ survived because he was not in good shape after getting to his feet. Joshua knocked down in the fourth and then once again in round five.
There was a brief hope for Joshua in the fifth when he landed a scorching right that shook Dubois to his boots, causing his legs to instantly turn to jelly. Dubois retreated to the ropes in what looked like a land stand for him. Joshua charged forward, throwing bombs.
Dubois threw a nice right hand that missed, but it was thrown with a lot of power. Joshua should have noted that Dubois was still alive and played it safe, but he didn’t.
Instead, AJ threw a hard right hand that Dubous countered with a short punch that connected like a ton of bricks on his chin, putting him down. The fight was then stopped at 0:59 of round five.
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