Anthony Joshua has declared he will not retire after losing to IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois in a failed attempt to become a three-time champion on Saturday night at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Joshua did not say his plans for his next fight during the post-fight press conference, but he may fight Tyson Fury in early 2025. His Excellency Turki Alalshikh is expected to pay Joshua huge money to face Fury. UK fans will still be interested, and will quickly forget their loss to Dubois.
AJ needs a new training team
Joshua (28-4, 23 KOs) sounded like a man in denial about his loss, saying his defeat resulted from “fine margins” with training. If AJ believes that, he needs to fire his trainer, Ben Davison, and the rest of his team because they failed him.
He should do anyway, given how he performed Saturday night in his fifth-round loss to Dubois. DDD sliced through Joshua like a hot knife through butter, knocking him down four times and hurting him half a dozen more times with heavy strikes.
In some cases, it’s good for fighters to keep their training teams after a blowout loss like the one Joshua suffered tonight. This time is different. AJ seemed so ill-prepared for the Dubois fight that firing trainer Ben Davison was the only logical move.
It’s not personal. It’s about making sure Joshua can rebuild to win his next fight and preserve what’s left of his career.
Joshua’s defense and punch resistance were not there tonight. He’s never been known for having a great chin, but tonight, he was also hurt by Dubois’ jabs.
“Always keep your head up. We took a shot at success, and we came up short. We rolled the dice for the third time,” said Anthony Joshua to the media following his fifth loss defeat to Daniel Dubois on Saturday night in London.
“We’re trying to create history for British boxing, and I think we’re doing that. You’re probably wondering if I want to keep fighting. Of course I want to keep fighting. That’s why I said: ‘We took a chance to succeed , and we just won,” Joshua said.
It seems that Joshua is trying to explain his loss without addressing the reasons why. Similar reasons for the reasons for the loss of Joshua:
- Coming in too heavy: AJ looked like he was carrying too much muscle on his upper body, looking bulky and slow.
- Trainers’ failures: Davison should have Joshua go after Dubois, firing power shots throughout the fight.
- Failing to let go: Joshua’s offensive production was low in the first round, which allowed Dubois to take advantage of the situation by going on the attack.
“What does this mean now? We’re going to run away and live to fight another day. I’m a warrior. Also, before I finish. You have to give credit to my opponent, Daniel, even though when I sign up for my opponents, I don’t like it anymore.
“Now, it’s done. I take my hat off to him and his team. There were a few mistakes, but that’s the name of the game. Thin margins cost at the highest level,” Joshua said.
AJ made a lot more than a few mistakes tonight in his loss to Dubois. He was a walking mess in the ring, fighting like he didn’t know what he was doing and failing to fight the way he needed to for him to win.
Obviously, it goes back to the trainer. Davison is the captain of the ship, and he should be the one to take the blame for driving Joshua into the rocks.
