‘AJ’ was dropped four times during the contest at the national stadium before his rival finished off the job 59 seconds into the fifth round. This knockout victory meant that Dubois retained the IBF heavyweight title he had held on an interim basis.
Joshua had come into the battle as the favourite, not least as he had tallied up a run of four bouts without defeat following back-to-back losses against Oleksandr Usyk. The Watford-born superstar had dispatched of former UFC champion Francis Ngannou coming into this latest outing, having restored his status as one of the most feared heavyweight fighters on the planet.
However, defeat against Dubois leaves the 34-year-old with some decisions to make as he weighs up his next options. With his client already having a re-match clause, promoter Hearn said on DAZN: “As with all of these fights, the man in the middle is his exellency, so it’s not just always Frank and I talking about making a fight.
“It’s his exellency talking to Frank, talking to me, and of course we’re talking as well- keeping everybody in the loop, he continued, as he explained that converstations are ongoing behind the scenes. So there’s a period of time, within AJ’s contract where he’s got to make a decision.
“It’s not up yet but he’s thinking hard, he’s resting the body, he’s having a think about what he’s going to do. It’s still quite fresh, only three weeks ago [loss against Dubois]. He’s devastated by the defeat, Daniel’s had a great time in Brazil as the new champion and well deserved.
He added: “So, we’ll see, I think is the right answer. It’s a big decision for Anthony, you’ve got the Fury-Usyk fight coming up. There is options for him but I don’t think there’s a right or wrong decision, honestly. We’ll have to just see what happens over the next couple of weeks.”
Offering a less coy response previously, Hearn did hint that Joshua is strongly considering stepping back into the ring against Dubois in the future. He informed Sky Sports: “When you start actually thinking about it, I don’t think there’s a bad decision to make.
“I know that he is leaning towards the rematch. Because he wants to win the world heavyweight title – versus fighting [Deontay] Wilder [or] waiting for [Tyson] Fury.”
The Matchbox Boxing figure added: “And then you’ve got all next year bubbling around, not really fighting for the world heavyweight title. If it’s solely down to AJ, which it will be at the end of the day, I think it’s going to be very hard to talk him out of taking the rematch.”
