Tyson Fury was left seething at ringside when Daniel Dubois’ ferocious right hand scuppered his hopes of a lucrative fight with Anthony Joshua. The Gypsy King and AJ were expected to face off next year if Dubois was dispensed with at Wembley on Saturday night.
But ‘Dynamite’ Dubios had other ideas, flooring Joshua three times before landing the decisive punch in round five. Fury watched on eagerly from one of the best seats in the house and could not hide his frustration when AJ hit the deck for the final time.
“That’s cost me £150million,” he raged. “The silly c***.”
Dubois’ unlikely win over Joshua has flipped the script of the heavyweight division. A win for AJ would likely have paved the way for a hotly-anticipated meeting between himself and Fury, with a two-fight deal worth hundreds of millions touted.
But the fourth defeat of Joshua’s career has undoubtedly taken the edge off a prospective fight with the Gypsy King. And AJ’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, suggested at Wembley that exercising a rematch clause to get revenge on Dubois is a higher priority.
“We have another contracted fight with Riyadh Season that could include the Daniel Dubois rematch. I think we need time. I don’t think [Joshua] could have boxed much worse tonight but you have to give Dubois plenty of credit.
“He was brilliant tonight. He put the pressure on. We knew he would be dangerous in the early part of the fight, and the start couldn’t have been worse. AJ will believe that he can box much better and beat him, but Dubois will be full of confidence.
“We will have to see what happens [when Fury and Usyk fight] on December 21, if Tyson Fury wins or loses. There’s no immediate rush but I know what AJ is like, and he would love to have another crack at him [Dubois].”
Fury suffered the first defeat of his professional boxing career via a split decision against Usyk in Saudi Arabia four months ago. Joshua and Dubois have also lost to Usyk over the past two-and-a-half years.
There is little appetite for AJ to fight Usyk for a third time, having lost to him on the previous two occasions. But the Brit’s potential rematch with Dubois would undoubtedly be met with hype given the drama of Saturday night, and a contest with Fury would also sell tickets, even if the match-up is no longer as sought-after as it once was.
