Eddie Hearn says Anthony Joshua will never forgive himself if he doesn’t take a rematch with Daniel Dubois to try to avenge his defeat. Hearn thinks Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) will say next week, ‘Let’s take it back,’ when they decide whether to take a rematch with IBF heavyweight champion Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs).
If Joshua doesn’t take the rematch, he will face Tyson Fury next, and he will likely lose to Oleksandr Usyk again then. That would have created a pointless feud between Joshua and Fury, with both losing in a row, and the public looking at it as something that happened.
UK fans will still be eager to see AJ and Fury square off, but people elsewhere won’t see the benefit in the matchup without it being a respectable celebrity match.
Interestingly, Hearn is cool with the idea of Joshua taking a few fights against Deontay Wilder, Dillian Whyte, and Joe Joyce to get used to winning again. He says Joshua has done the rebuilding work, he doesn’t need another one.
He won’t, but the fans would like to see Joshua get a knockout or two to regain their faith in him. Right now, many of them feel that he is washed up and is headed for another loss against Dubois.
“You have a direct shot at the heavyweight championship against a guy we believe he should have beaten and we all believe we can beat,” said Eddie Hearn speaking to BoxNation about Anthony Joshua seeking a rematch with Daniel Dubois.
Joshua will have a direct shot at another crack at the world title, but he could live with the regrets. Dubois showed he has his number, knocking Joshua down four times and making him look old.
Joshua turns 35 next week on October 15, and it’s a good idea for him to avoid young sluggers like the 27-year-old Dubois. A fight with Tyson Fury or Oleksandr Usyk would be better options for Joshua because neither is a big puncher, and he had a chance to knock them out in a 12 round fight.
“I don’t think AJ will be able to forgive himself if he doesn’t take a rematch. To me, you’re going to say, ‘Let’s take it back.’ So, we’ll see this week.
“He doesn’t want to win by putting him down. He wants the world heavyweight title,” said Hearn, responding to the suggestion that Joshua fight a warm-up fight to get the knockout punch. “We won’t beat Deontay Wilder, Joe Joyce or Dillian Whyte yet. It won’t really give us any difference in our fight with Dubois.
“I get it; maybe mentally, you go in with more pressure. We don’t have time for pressure. We’ve done the rebuilding. The rebuilding was done after Usyk. We had four fights, then we went in with Dubois. If Ben Davison and AJ believe that’s the way, maybe we’ll do it,” said Hearn.
For marketing purposes, it’s not a bad idea for Joshua to fight a few cans of tomatoes to help him look good again, and Hearn can tell the public that he’s rejuvenated and better than ever. Some of them will believe him as they did recently after rebuilding four wars.
“AJ didn’t punch well against Dubois. We feel as a team, we can beat Dubois. If we can’t, we can’t, but imagine if we win. Imagine if AJ avenged his loss to Dubois and became a three-time heavyweight champion. It’s possible,” Hearn said.
Joshua’s loss to Dubois had less to do with not punching well, and more to do with not being comfortable with boxing. He could put up a good fight, and Dubois would still get to him. AJ will have to be a bigger version of Pernell Whitaker to survive the shots from Dubois.
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