Anthony Joshua has revealed that he is not planning to quit boxing following his latest defeat to Daniel Dubois.
Dubois produced a sensational performance to knock out Joshua in the fifth round on Saturday night at the Wembley Stadium.
Joshua struggled to find his bearing in the bout and Dubois knocked him out several times before delivering a brutal right hand in round five to seal the victory.
It was a fourth career loss for Joshua, who insisted that he was not going to give up on his career following another defeat.
He said: “Probably you’re asking: ‘Do I still want to continue fighting?’ Of course, I want to continue fighting.
“That’s what I said we took a shot at success, and we came up short. What does that mean now? Are we going to run away? [Or] we going to live to fight another day?”
“We have to give credit to our opponent as well, Daniel. Well done to him and his team and also thank my team as well for the way they prepared for me. There were a few mistakes in there but that’s the name of the game,” Joshua said.
“Fine margins can cost you at the top level”, he admitted.
Similarly, Joshua’s producer, Eddie Hearn, revealed that he is ready to participate in major fights before he retires and also confirmed his next plan.
He said: “We have another fight with Riyadh Season and Turki Alalshikh and Daniel Dubois are part of that plan, but so too could be Tyson Fury or another heavyweight,”
“I don’t see it being a fight that ends his career, but he’s in the final chapters of the career and that was a big blow because we fancied winning tonight and fighting the winner of Fury and [Oleksandr] Usyk.
“I just know he’s going to want a big fight; I don’t believe he’ll want to come back in February or March for a runout, Helenius or Franklin or this kind of fight. I feel like we’ve done that and the next decision will be very important.”
Dubois won the interim IBF title in June and was elevated to world champion status when Usyk vacated the belt, he has now retained the title.
Joshua Vows To Continue Fighting Despite Loss To Dubois is first published on The Whistler Newspaper