- Anthony Joshua and Eddie Hearn have expressed interest in a rematch with Dubois
- AJ suffered a heavy knockout against Dubois in London on Saturday
Anthony Joshua’s hopes of a revenge match against Daniel Dubois appear to be in tatters two days after he was knocked out at Wembley.
AJ’s promoter Eddie Hearn insisted there is a rematch clause and that his fighter would likely activate it after his punishment on Saturday.
Dubois retained his IBF heavyweight world title in an impressive performance in front of 96,000 fans, knocking Joshua down four times and knocking him out in the fifth round.
Joshua previously played doubleheader against Andy Ruiz Jr. and Oleksandr Usyk, with his draw against the former coming after a surprise defeat in 2019.
However, Dubois’ promoter Frank Warren has thrown a spanner in the works with a potentially groundbreaking claim about the fight contract.
Anthony Joshua has suffered a major blow to his hopes of a rematch with Daniel Dubois
Dubois’ promoter Frank Warren says his fighter has no guaranteed rematch clause
The 27-year-old knocked out AJ in the fifth round with his fourth knockdown on Saturday
Despite being disliked by many, he retained his IBF world heavyweight title at Wembley
He told talkSPORT that Dubois does not have a clause in his contract stating that he can play a revenge match, while AJ apparently does.
In any case, he said his camp would be open to a second fight between the boxers.
Joshua does not give up and dreams of joining the hall of fame of three-time champions, so he is expected to look for a solution everywhere.
As he said in the ring, moments after his defeat: ‘I always tell myself I’m a fighter for life… we keep rolling the dice.’
‘I had a sharp opponent, a fast opponent and I made a lot of mistakes, but that’s the game.’
And promoter Hearn told DAZN: ‘I’m sure he’ll use that rematch clause, I think that’s a given. He’ll need rest and it’s a dangerous fight. The guy is getting more and more confident.
“He’ll believe he can hurt Dubois. He’ll believe he can beat him, but all credit goes to Daniel Dubois, he deserves all the credit tonight. It was a great performance by Daniel.”
Dubois shocked the world on Saturday night, bucking tradition and entering Wembley Stadium first despite being the reigning champions – but that was the least of the surprises he was in for.
Eddie Hearn has insisted Joshua has a rematch clause and wants to activate it
Joshua harbours ambitions of becoming a three-time world champion, like Muhammad Ali and Lennox Lewis
He hurt Dubois a few times, but most of the time he took a beating in front of a crowd of 96,000.
Eventually, trainer Ben Davison threw in the towel and rushed into the ring when he was waved off
After the fight, Dubois insisted he still hasn’t reached “his potential” in boxing
From the kick-off he showed his immense power, scoring a huge knockdown in the opening round.
A stunned AJ returned to his corner to seek guidance from trainer Ben Davison and in the second round he held on as ‘Dynamite’ Dubois pushed forward.
However, Joshua never seemed to fully recover from the blow in his first round and was back on the canvas in the third round, seconds before the bell rang.
It wasn’t long before ‘AJ’ was sent to the canvas again as in the fourth round Dubois landed another huge hook, putting Joshua’s corner in jeopardy.
Somehow, the 34-year-old managed to get back up and march forward despite the heavy blows he had taken in the opening rounds.
Things really got exciting in the fifth, however, when Joshua caught Dubois and charged forward, before the IBF heavyweight champion delivered a brilliant right hook that sent his rival to the canvas.
Joshua tried to get up for the fourth time in the fight, but stumbled and nearly landed on his head, which was an easy decision for the referee to call off the fight.