Anthony Joshua says he’s got “a lot more” to give in his career and won’t be retiring after losing to Daniel Dubois last Saturday night. Sounding upbeat, Joshua took to social media to say he still wants to keep pushing to become a three-time heavyweight champion.
(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)
Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) was knocked out in the fifth round in a failed bid to capture Dubois’ IBF title last Saturday at Wembley Stadium in London. Blaming the defeat on the decision to go for the knockout in the fifth, Joshua feels he can come back from the loss to accomplish more things in his career.
“It’s far from over yet. I know we’ve got a lot more to bring to the game,” said Joshua.
Fans still wonder whether Joshua will activate his rematch clause to avenge his loss to Dubois. If Joshua chooses not to, he could go in the direction of facing Tyson Fury in the first quarter of next year.
Fury is fighting a rematch against WBA, WBC, and WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk on December 21st. It doesn’t matter if Fury wins. His Excellency Turki Alalshikh has already said he wants the Fury vs. Joshua fight to happen anyway.
With the purses being guaranteed, it doesn’t matter if the fight doesn’t generate the big bucks that it would have if the ‘Gypsy King’ Fury and AJ were still winning. It’s a fight that Turki wants, and British fans will want to watch it because they’re more tolerant of paying to see fading fighters than Americans.
It would look better if Joshua, 34, attempted to avenge his loss to Dubois before choosing to take the money fight against Fury. However, it would be understandable if Joshua didn’t. A second knockout defeat against Dubois would be disastrous for AJ, making a fight against Fury worthless.
Under those circumstances, it’s unclear if Turki would still want to pursue his Fury vs. Joshua fight plans.
