‘Warrior’ Joshua won’t quit despite Dubois mauling

Despite suffering a crushing loss to IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois at Wembley, Anthony Joshua vowed to continue, with promoter Eddie Hearn claiming he "will definitely be back."

In the all-British bout on Saturday, Dubois put on a relentless attack from the opening bell, ending in a fifth-round knockout of Joshua, 34, who was floored four times.

It was his fourth career defeat, depriving him of the opportunity to become the undisputed world champion and casting serious doubt on his long-term prospects in the ring.

Joshua was trying to become a three-time world heavyweight champion, a feat shared by Lennox Lewis and Muhammad Ali.

But even after losing in front of a record-breaking official crowd of over 98,000, the former Olympian is certain he won't throw in the towel.

At the press conference following the fight, Joshua stated, "Of course I want to continue fighting." "We tried our hand at success and failed miserably. Now, what does that mean? that we're planning to flee? We will survive to battle another day. And I consider myself to be a warrior.

"Always hold your head up while you walk. This was our third time rolling the dice. Thirteen world championship bouts have taken place; while not all of them have been profitable, they have all been enjoyable and engaging.

"A few errors occurred there, but that's part of the challenge. At the highest level, fine margins will cost you money.

Matchroom Joshua is promoted by boxing boss Hearn, who feels that his man has choices in the form of a potential rematch with Dubois and an all-British fight with Tyson Fury, who takes on Oleksandr Usyk on December 21.

He declared, "Anthony Joshua will have an interesting year in 2025, one way or another, but he will definitely be back." "You will be entertained, even though you don't want to watch your guy get smashed up like that, whether it's against Daniel Dubois, Tyson Fury, or anybody else.”

Our goal is to ensure that he departs from this sport with a legacy and a huge amount of money, but also his health intact.”
Dubois, 27, is preparing to become the heavyweight division's unchallenged king and will be watching Usyk's rematch with Fury to see how it plays out.

Usyk of Ukraine, who defeated Dubois the previous year, is the current WBC, WBO, and WBA champion.

"Everyone was predicting that I would lose, but we all saw who lost," he remarked.

"I completed the task and I'm happy that I disproved everyone. But my journey has only just begun. I want to correct that wrong by getting my rematch with Usyk.