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ANTHONY Joshua’s illustrious career is winding to a close and with that, the aftereffects from his damaging fifth-round stoppage defeat by Daniel Dubois last September continue.

Dubois, eight years his junior, produced a career-best display as a record 96,000 sell-out crowd watched him headline the Riyadh Season: Wembley Edition card and flourish in the underdog role with aplomb.

 

Having won the interim title with an eighth-round stoppage win over then-unbeaten 17-0 Croatian heavyweight Filip Hrgovic three months prior, two-division undisputed titlist Oleksandr Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs) relinquished the IBF strap later that month as a “present” so Joshua-Dubois was for the full version.
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JUST IN: Oleksandr Usyk Didn’t Hesitate When Asked If Daniel Dubois Is Better Than Anthony Joshua

Dubois was upgraded, their all-British showdown set and the younger man made that first world title defence one he’ll never forget, scoring four knockdowns in five rounds to prompt another inquest into a baffling Joshua performance given his steady rebuild in the 18 months leading up to that night.

 

An immediate rematch with revised contractual terms was welcomed by Dubois and his promoter, Queensberry chief Frank Warren. Hearn and team Joshua walked back their eagerness to settle the score as time wore on, aware their two-time unified champion would’ve needed to recuperate fully while Dubois wanted to stay active.

 

Six months on, the update is an uncomfortable one.

 

Talking to BoxingScene on the eve of their latest show, headlined by Ammo Williams vs. Patrice Volny, Matchroom chief Eddie Hearn shared an unexpected injury update when assessing the 35-year-old’s next fight options.

 

“He’s pretty relaxed, but I’ll be honest, I think the only fights that really get his juices flowing are Dubois and Tyson Fury. Doesn’t mean he won’t fight someone else, but he’s beaten Joseph Parker already, Agit Kabayel’s on a great run but if you’re AJ, can you get yourself up for that? I don’t know.”

 

Usyk has this week been ordered to make a mandatory defence against interim champion Parker, who scored a second-round stoppage win over late-replacement Martin Bakole after Dubois’ fight week virus forced him to withdraw 48 hours before their proposed IBF world title clash in Riyadh last month.

 

Kabayel (26-0, 18 KOs) won the WBC interim title earlier that night, climbing off the canvas to stop Zhilei Zhang with a sixth-round body shot knockout.

 

Hearn said Joshua “won’t be able to punch again or train properly for eight-to-ten weeks” after sustaining an unspecified injury, before insisting a long-awaited clash against Tyson Fury was the most likely scenario while naming him and Dubois as the two “that light the fire” within his fighter to resurface again.

 

If the 2012 Olympic champion is unable to punch or train properly as a result of said injury, he’ll subsequently need a longer training camp on his return, meaning any mooted comeback is unlikely until August or later.

 

Fury (34-2-1, 24 KOs) again announced his retirement from the sport after a second decision defeat by Usyk during their Riyadh rematch on December 22, though many believe it’s inevitable the Morecambe man will return once more.

plenty’ more fights for AJ before retirement Anthony Joshua’s boxing future takes major U-turn as Eddie Hearn says he now sees ‘plenty’ more fights for AJ before retirement

Eddie Hearn has changed his stance on Anthony Joshua’s future.

The Matchroom Boxing chief insisted earlier this year that AJ doesn’t have long left in the sport.

However, Hearn has made a major U-turn as Joshua gears up to face Daniel Dubois for the IBF heavyweight title on September 21.

Anthony Joshua himself gave an interview earlier this year in which he claimed he was entering his final couple of years in boxing – a position, Hearn had backed.

However, when asked how many fights the 34-year-old has left, Hearn told talkSPORT.com: “At the moment, plenty.

“Everything changes after every fight, but I think I’ve never seen him enjoy boxing so much.

“The preparation, the team. It’s simple but effective. I think he’s really found his rhythm with Ben [Davison] and the camp there.

“And I think if you look back after the Oleksandr Usyk fights you might have said, ‘How many more fights? Three? Five?’

“Well we’ve had four since then and now we’re saying five [more] still.
It’s always fight by fight.”

Providing Joshua comes out of his clash with Dubois unscathed, then HE Turki Alalshikh is targeting the long-awaited all-British showdown with Tyson Fury.

Joshua opens up as a 1/4 favourite to defeat ‘Triple D’ and become a three-time heavyweight champion.

“This is a very dangerous fight, but it’s a great fight,” he added.

“And as it gets closer I think people are starting to realise.

“People in boxing know what a great fight it is, but I think the general consensus is, ‘Oh, AJ’s a massive favourite.’

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“I think he is a favourite, but if you look at people’s assessment within boxing.

“Obviously, they’re much more skewed towards it being a 50/50 than maybe the man on the street who doesn’t know a great deal about Dubois and the run that he’s on.

“I think they’re both in absolutely prime form but I do make Anthony the favourite in the fight.”

He recalled: “I never really had my eye on him, but I had Ambrose Mendy come onto me and say, ‘There’s this kid at GB.’

Devin Haney

“I spoke to the people at GB and they said he’s a really good young heavyweight.

“They phoned me up and said, ‘This is the deal that’s on offer from Queensberry, will you match it?’

“I said no because I’d hardly ever heard of him and it was a lot of money.

“That was when I first found out really and discussed Dubois at length.

“When I started out he looked really good and, I don’t kick myself, but I was like, ‘Oh, maybe he was worth the money.’

“Then obviously he got beat by Joe Joyce and it was like, ‘Wow, all that investment.’ But the bounce back has been really impressive.

“They Knew Already” Eddie Hearn Reveals What The Corner Told Crawford Before Last Round Against Madrimov: “They Knew”

Eddie Hearn immediately made his frustrations clear after his fighter, Israil Madrimov, lost a close decision on the scorecards to Terence Crawford.

Terence Crawford made his return to the ring earlier this month after more than a year out from his career defining performance against Errol Spence Jr.

His eleven fight knockout street came to an end on his 154lb debut against Madrimov, edging a decision on points with the official scores of 116-112, 115-113, 115-113. After the fight Madrimov’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, said he was ‘frustrated’ with the judging

“Yeah I was a little bit frustrated at the end, I though it was actually two 116-112’s and I don’t understand how you can only give Madrimov four rounds in that fight. 115-133 is a close fight, after ten rounds I was convinced we were up and it’s an argument as to whether Crawford won the eleventh, he definitely won the twelfth.”

Hearn said he was sitting right by Crawford’s corner and revealed they told him how important that last round wound be.

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“You saw the way he came out for the twelfth, because they told him, I was right by his corner, they knew he they had to win that last round, they knew how close that fight was and I was just a bit frustrated that it wasn’t a split or we didn’t get a little bit more respect, one of the judges has Crawford winning the last four rounds and the first four rounds and I just don’t see that, I thought Madrimov wont he fight 7-5.”

Crawford is now on the lookout for his next opponent with a fight against Vergil Ortiz wanted by Turki Alalshikh.

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