Eddie Hearn insists there is still a chance for Anthony Joshua to have a mega fight against Tyson Fury despite his devastating loss to Daniel Dubois.
Dubois delivered a dominant display at Wembley on Saturday night as he dismantled Joshua in just five rounds in front of 96,000 fans.
Joshua was knocked to the canvas in all but one of the five rounds before Dubois finished the fight with a crunching right counter which left the 34-year-old in a heap and unable to stand.
It marks the fourth defeat of AJ’s career and dealt a potential hammer blow to chances of a mouthwatering clash with arch-rival Fury in the future.
The two Brits have appeared on a collision course for several years but that fight now appears further away than ever, especially with Fury still seeking to avenge the first loss of his professional career against Oleksandr Usyk in December.
However, with Joshua confirming he does not intend to retire after his latest defeat, Hearn believes there is still a chance of fighting Fury if he loses again to Usyk at the end of the year.
‘I don’t see it being a fight that ends his [Joshua’s] career,’ Hearn told reporters at Wembley on Saturday night. ‘But as I said, he’s in the final chapter or chapters of the career.
‘That was a big blow because we fancied winning tonight and fighting the winner of Fury against Usyk. We may end up fighting the loser of that fight, maybe if it’s Tyson Fury.
‘You’ve got the Dubois rematch, you’ve got other fights out there. I think it’s really about returning to the gym and having time off and seeing how you come back with [trainer] Ben [Davison]. A lot depends on how you are performing in the gym.’
Hearn continued: ‘Our interests are for him to leave this sport with legacy, with a huge amount of money in the bank but also with his health intact and if you start getting knocked out like that you certainly have to look at it.
‘But really this was the first time in his career where he hasn’t been able to get off the deck – and there have been many times he’s been down and never not tried to get up, but that one was just a shot.
‘When you try and land an uppercut and you get caught trading by a huge right hand, it doesn’t matter who you are, you’re getting knocked out, unfortunately, it happened with a lot of damage on the clock and that’s perhaps why it ended the way it did.’
Dubois, meanwhile, has set his sights on a rematch against Usyk having lost to theUkrainian in August last year.
‘I want a shot at my redemption. Anyone can get it,’ the 27-year-old said.
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