Gareth A. Davies believes Anthony Joshua’s legacy is in jeopardy after he was knocked out by Daniel Dubois in the fifth round last night.
Joshua’s career is essentially over unless he avenges the loss, which doesn’t look promising. He was silent after the fight on whether he would use his rematch status to force a second fight with Dubois. Hearn mentioned that he might be able to use the replay clause, but the expression on his face looked convincing.
You could see the wheels turning in Hearn’s head, weighing the possibility of Joshua getting knocked out again, he wasn’t ready to say 100% that AJ would face Dubois again. I wouldn’t do it if I were Hearn. Joshua can make good money fighting Tyson Fury who has been washed up a few times and then retire or continue to fight those stars.
In terms of inheritance, Joshua’s progress is not outstanding. His best win was over 41-year-old Wladimir Klitschko, who was retired and not the same guy due to his age and the absence of his trainer, Emanuel Steward. He died five years earlier, in 2012.
Joshua and Hearn may have decided against a rematch with Dubois and are focusing on pursuing a guaranteed payday fight that the Honorable Turki Alalshikh wants.
Since this fight is sponsored by Turki, it doesn’t matter if it fails to bring in the money it would have if both men were victorious and sitting on top. AJ’s career has been well managed since 2013, and there’s no chance he’ll be headed for a dangerous rematch with the slim chance of winning it against Dubois.
If Joshua is to win the rematch, he will have to make major changes in his fighting style, physical condition, and training team. Where AJ is now, he won’t beat Dubois in a rematch.
Joshua (28-4, 23 KOs) was the favorite to win by the fans and the boxing community, who gave IBF heavyweight champion Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) almost no chance. They saw this as just another night in AJ’s office and were fooled by how he looked in his previous four shows.
“You have to give Anthony Joshua credit for holding on after his world was knocked out from under him in the last 20 seconds of the first round with that right,” said Gareth A. Davies on talkSport Boxing, discussing how things went downhill so quickly. Anthony Joshua after being stopped by Daniel Dubois in the first round last Saturday.
“The way he hung on until the fifth round and almost saved victory from the jaws of defeat is probably beyond all of us. It leaves Anthony Joshua’s legacy in disarray right now, and where he goes next is very uncertain.
Davies spoke of how Joshua almost “saved himself from the jaws of defeat” in the fifth round after landing one punch only to face the canvas seconds later. Promoter Eddie Hearn says Joshua got too “greedy” and went for the finish when he should have counted more.
“Last night was AJ’s show because he was the champion [Dubois] he went first, which is unusual too. He was treated as an A-side again, coming out. I picked Joshua to win. “I thought he had the ability to do it but he never recovered from that right hand in the first round,” said Gareth.
The fight ended in the first round after Dubois injured Joshua with a long range haymaker in the final 20 seconds. Joshua thought he was out of Dubois’s range but he didn’t consider his ability to fire an arrow from this distance. A fist landed on Joshua’s chin, knocking him down. Joshua fought defensively, throwing very few punches in rounds 2, 3, 4, and 5.
“He didn’t do his game plan. He came up with a young man who wanted to beat him in a competition, and he lost. Both are big, explosive punchers. He didn’t produce last night. Check out the punch stats.
“He threw 117 punches in those five rounds and lasted 32 because he was in survival mode most of the time. He was beaten. This is the first time he has been beaten. This was a one-sided misdirection,” Gareth said of Joshua.
It looked like Joshua was in ‘Last Stand’ battle mode, prominent and unarmed with his offensive weapon. He had left his Gatling gun behind and was only armed with single-shot ammunition. Joshua couldn’t put up that kind of fight against a strong fighter with the kind of cardio and high-pressure offense that Dubois had.
What a night of boxing 🤩Presented by @autozone 🥊#JoshuaDubois pic.twitter.com/LVe830vlQk
– DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) September 21, 2024
