“It’s far from over yet!” Anthony Joshua breaks silence after terrifying KO loss to Daniel Dubois

Daniel Dubois knocked out Anthony Joshua in Round 5 to retain his IBF heavyweight title at Wembley on Saturday. Dubois wobbled the British boxing superstar four solid times and starched him off in the fifth with a right to the chin. After a series of setbacks, Joshua has once again stumbled his way down the heavyweight ranks.

Joshua was up to face the likely winner of Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury on 21 December. 27-year-old Daniel Dubois will have that chance after a 21-3 improvement. The former unified titleholder has the security of a Brit clash with Fury. However, the ex-lineal WBC heavyweight is staggering in his belief for such a fight. Moreover, AJ shut down retirement talks. Now, he doubles down on that yet again.

Uh, …Yesterday night we came up short. But look, we've got to look at all the positives…That's the mindset. That's the perspective…that we have to have. A positive one…Look at what we've achieved in the space of 11 years — it's phenomenal…It's far from over yet. Ya'know we've done it once…we've done it twice. Doing a third…Doing a third time hasn't been easy but I believe it's something I can achieve.

Anthony Joshua via X (@anthonyjoshua)

AJ could not get into his usual rhythm. Joshua found limited success in a pocket in the third frame. However, his sluggish defense saw him running into a right after throwing his own. After the clash, Daniel ‘Dynamite’ Dubois billed himself as a “gladiator.”

Poised with the question of whether AJ managed to hurt him, Dubois said he’s like a warrior — to the bitter end. At the post-fight presser, Joshua stuck to being a similar warrior and improving. Joshua, 34, lost for the first time in five bouts to fall to 28-4.

While almost flat and uncoordinated, the Brit KO artist left with pride that he can bounce back. He means to do just that. Prior to Saturday, Joshua’s only losses had been to Andy Ruiz Jr and twice to Oleksandr Usyk. The Ukrainian unified champ has some sage observations about the fallout. The question remains: can he bank on those to challenge the unified heavyweight crown again?

Anthony ‘AJ’ Joshua refusing to retire: Can the Brit wear the crown again?

A two-time former unified world champ, Joshua (28-4, 23 KOs) has had quite a running. Anthony Joshua took to social media today to announce that he won’t retire and that he had “much more to give” to boxing. Mentioning bringing more to the game, the Watford, England native also said doing it a “third time [winning heavyweight title]” is achievable.

As Joshua has said nothing about a rematch, he seems to be going in another direction. When Joshua first lost to Oleksandr Usyk and Andy Ruiz Jr, he said he would try to avenge the defeats immediately. Subsequently, AJ is not saying much of this now. Battered to the limit by Daniel Dubois, he might accordingly be feeling the need for some changes.

One of the biggest deterrents to that would be his confidence. Joshua was sprawling on his back after ‘Dynamite’ knocked the air out of him with a counter right. Moments earlier, Joshua mugged the crowd as if saying, “Easy work“; he also let the profanities roll in. Things quickly deteriorated. Joshua and camp also overconfidently studied tapes of late champ Sonny Liston. However, the defensively uptight AJ could not lean in as the legendary slugger could.

Changes in camp could still propel to a three-division world champion status. That is when all three titles are fragmented after unified champ Usyk retires. 0-2 against, odds don’t work here. Depending on Tyson Fury’s showing, he could also veer to that money fight quicker. Joshua could definitely wear the crown again, but it’s a bumpy road ahead.

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