2 weeks Ago By BoxingNews.com
Anthony Joshua may choose to fight Tyson Fury next instead of rematching Daniel Dubois . That is according to Eddie Hearn . Joshua was knocked out in the fifth round by Dubois, who retained his IBF Heavyweight Title.
He suffered a one-sided beating as Joshua hit the canvas four times before the referee waved the fight off. In his post-fight comments, Joshua said he would not retire. He indicated his desire to run things back with Dubois, who was also open to the rematch.
However, Joshua has to make the right move. Another defeat to Dubois will increase the narrative on him to retire. He has already made over $200 million in the sport whilst also becoming a two-time unified heavyweight champion.
But a win over Dubois makes him the IBF Heavyweight Champion and puts him in a position to fight the winner of Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk , who rematch on December 21. That would be for the Undisputed Heavyweight Championship. Hearn Reacts But the Fury fight is also there.
That is the biggest domestic fight in British boxing, which Joshua had signed for. However, Fury’s arbitration case with Deontay Wilder prevented the fight from happening, as the Gypsy King eventually went ahead with the Wilder rematch. But now Hearn has said that AJ may simply wait to face Fury.
“AJ wants revenge, but the only issue is timing. For the rematch to happen in February, training camp will have to start in a couple of weeks. There are always niggles, and he had a few, so physically, it’s just a case of whether AJ is ready to do that.
It would be frustrating if we made the Dubois rematch and Fury won [the Usyk rematch]. Then we’re sitting there going, ‘Hang on a minute, we’re fighting Dubois, but we could have fought Fury in May for the biggest fight in boxing,” Hearn said Will It Happen? Nevertheless, that depends on several factors. If Fury beats Usyk, that could set up the narrative for a trilogy fight.
The Gypsy King narrowly lost a split decision in the first bout. While most of the boxing community felt that Usyk won a unanimous decision, it showed that Fury could hang in there with the Ukrainian until the end of the fight. Joshua would also have to depart from what he usually does.
When he lost against Andy Ruiz Jr . on his American debut in Madison Square Garden, Joshua had the rematch immediately. He outboxed Ruiz and beat him to win a unanimous decision.
When Joshua lost the Usyk fight, he immediately took the rematch. Although he came out second best again, it showed that Joshua has a tendency to try and avenge his losses. The failure to do that against Dubois may suggest he no longer feels he can cut it at the elite level.
The motivation may simply be to get as much money as possible before retiring. Joshua has plenty to ponder. This article first appeared on BoxingNews.
com and was syndicated with permission..
