Eddie Hearn has shared Anthony Joshua‘s reaction to his recent assertion that the former champion may only have one fight left in his career following his devastating loss to Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night.
Dubois retained his IBF world heavyweight title with a career-defining performance, flooring Joshua four times and delivering a knockout in the fifth round in front of a crowd of 98,000 fans.
Although Hearn confirmed that a rematch clause exists and that Joshua is likely to activate it soon, he also hinted that his star fighter’s career might be nearing its end.
In an interview with Charlie Parson of The Stomping Ground, Hearn revealed that he had a candid conversation with Joshua, telling him that he may have just one to three fights left after the brutal defeat.
According to Hearn, the conversation was a sobering moment for Joshua, who acknowledged that he is indeed on the ‘home straight’ of his illustrious career.
Eddie Hearn has shared Anthony Joshua ‘s reaction to his recent assertion that the former champion may only have one to three fights left in his career
Joshua suffered the fourth defeat of his career on Saturday evening in front of 98,000 fans
Daniel Dubois knocked AJ out in the fifth round with his fourth knockdown on Saturday
Hearn explained: ‘I said to AJ on the phone you’ve probably got between one and three fights left. Then it went a bit quiet. He kind of realised blimey, we’re on the home straight. We really are.’
Hearn is confident that AJ – who is contracted to at least one more fight with the Saudis – will active his rematch clause with Dubois, stating His Excellency Turki Alalshikh is also keen to see it again.
But given the one-sided nature of Saturday’s defeat, Joshua could look to take a different path back to the top and may chase a fight with Fury instead.
Fury is due to have his own rematch with Oleksandr Usyk in December after losing their first fight earlier this year.
Should he win, the Gypsy King could potentially take a voluntary defence against Joshua to finally settle the score with his domestic rival.
Alternatively, another loss to Usyk could leave Fury and Joshua both out of the title picture and free to fight each other in a bid to get back into the mix.
Wilder is another fighter that has long been linked with facing Joshua, having held the WBC title between 2015 and 2020.
Joshua and Wilder’s teams never managed to agree terms for an undisputed showdown before Fury relieved Wilder of his belt.
Despite being unfancied by many, Dubois retained his IBF world heavyweight title at Wembley
AJ hurt Dubois a couple of times but for the most part took a pummelling in front of 98,000
After the fight, Dubois insisted that he still hasn’t ‘reached my potential’ in the boxing game
Wilder has lost his last two bouts against Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang, and turns 39 next month, but is considering a return to the ring and a fight with Joshua could appeal.
If the fight happens, the winner could set their sights on one final crack at becoming a champion again, while the loser would likely sail off into the sunset.
