Anthony Joshua and Eddie Hearn at loggerheads over next opponent
Anthony Joshua and Eddie Hearn are on a collision course over who should be his next opponent following his defeat to Daniel Dubois on Saturday night.
Triple D upset the odds and defended his IBF heavyweight title after knocking Joshua out in the fifth round after a dominating display at Wembley.
It also saw AJ taste defeat for the fourth time in his career after a double-loss to Oleksandr Usyk and shock beating by Andy Ruiz Jr.
And the 34-year-old is desperate to right his wrongs against Dubois and meet him again in the ring to claim revenge, though his promoter Hearn has other ideas.
Anthony Joshua and Eddie Hearn have different ideas over who he should face next
Reuters
"Him [Joshua], as he’s proven with Ruiz and Usyk, will only want to do one thing which is to rematch Daniel Dubois and put the wrong right," Hearn told DAZN.
"We have within our contract with His Excellency [Turki Alalshikh] and Riyad Season the option to do the rematch.
"I’m pretty sure after all my conversations so far with His Excellency, and we’ll see him later with AJ later today, he wants the immediate rematch.
"Daniel Dubois will probably have no problem with the immediate rematch, he’s just won the fight by stoppage, and it’s the biggest fight out there for him.
"Do we want the rematch? Is it the right move next now? Again, taking away AJ’s emotion, taking away the fighter in him, taking away the pride, do we wait until December 21 and see what happens with Tyson Fury [against Usyk]? Or do we jump straight back in to Daniel Dubois?
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"Daniel Dubois is probably going to fight in February, are we ready to go in February? Is that the right move for us? That’s the next decision.
"For me, we have to fight Tyson Fury before it’s done.
"I said to AJ the other night, ‘you’ve got somewhere between one and three fights left’, and it all went very quiet on the phone, like the realisation, he doesn’t want to leave the sport.
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Anthony Joshua wants to rematch Daniel Dubois after losing to him on Saturday
PA
"He loves it, but we as a team will make sure he leaves the sport at the right time and you leave when you’re deteriorating, and when it’s showing in the gym, and when you’re not sparring well and you’re getting hurt in sparring – and none of that’s happening, by the way.
"He was in that camp and they were going, ‘wow’, best camp, best form, everything.
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Daniel Dubois knocked Anthony Joshua to see his career in tatters
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"If Tyson Fury loses against Oleksandr Usyk, my advice would be for those two [Joshua and Fury] to have two fights in 2025 and then sail off into the sunset, may the best man win.
"If Fury wins against Usyk, AJ can fight Fury for the unified world heavyweight championship."
While AJ has not fight lined up currently, Fury will take on Usyk in a rematch on December 21 while Dubois will certainly feel he is owed a shot at unifying the divison.