Anthony Joshua swiftly put to bed any notion that retirement might be on the cards after his upset defeat at the hands of Daniel Dubois on Saturday night, hinting instead at a rematch. The 34-year-old was brutally handled by his fellow British fighter as he was stopped in the fifth round and lost the chance to become a three-time world heavyweight champion at Wembley.
Anthony Joshua was swept aside in his world heavyweight title bout with Daniel Dubois on Saturday night at Wembley, but the London 2012 gold medalist insisted that his career is far from over.
Speaking in the aftermath of the thrilling fight in which he was stopped in the fifth round – after being knocked down four times previously – Joshua faced questions about his future.
Asked what went wrong, Joshua wasted no time in crediting Dubois.
He said: “The opponent. Credit to him and his team, we rolled the dice of success and we came up short. I want to say, everyone in Wembley, I appreciate you coming out this evening.
“You know I’m p*****, you know I”m ready to kick off in the ring but I’m going to keep my cool, keep very professional and give the respect to my opponent. I had a sharp opponent, a fast opponent, and secondly a lot of mistakes from my end.”
Joshua has faced challenges in his career before, only to re-emerge as a champion again.
He added: “I’m always saying to myself, ‘I’m a fighter for life’. We rolled the dice of success and we came up short, and we roll it again. We keep rolling the dice.”
Joshua then faced the key question, amid speculation about his immediate future in the sport.
“Probably you’re asking do I still want to continue fighting,” he said. “Of course I want to continue fighting. We took a shot at success and we came up short. And what does that mean now? Are we going to run away? We’re going to live to fight another day. That’s what I am, I’m a warrior.”
Joshua’s insistence that he will return to the ring echoed what promoter Eddie Hearn said about a potential rematch.
“I’m sure he’ll exercise that rematch clause,” Hearn said. “I think that’s a given, but he’ll need a rest. It’s a dangerous fight, this guy is growing in confidence all the time. But he’ll believe he can hurt Dubois, he’ll believe he can beat him. But full credit to Daniel Dubois, it was a great performance.”
While no date is yet set, Hearn insisted that another fight would be coming.
He said: “No immediate rush, but I know what AJ is like and he would love to have another crack at him.”
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