Eddie Hearn says Anthony Joshua will never forgive himself if he does not take the rematch with Daniel Dubois to try and avenge his defeat against him. Hearn thinks Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) will say, ‘Let’s run it back’ next week, when they decide whether or not to take the rematch with IBF heavyweight champion Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs).
If Joshua doesn’t take the rematch, he will face Tyson Fury next, and he could potentially be coming off another loss to Oleksandr Usyk by then. This would result in a worthless clash between Joshua and Fury, both of which would follow back-to-back defeats, and be viewed as ominous by the public.
The British fans will still be eager to see AJ and Fury just get it on, but people elsewhere will see no value in the match other than it being a glorified celebrity match.
Interestingly, Hearn is cool with the idea of Joshua taking a few gimme fights against Deontay Wilder, Dillian Whyte and Joe Joyce to get used to winning again. He says Joshua has already had a rebuild done, and he doesn’t need another one.
He might not but the fans would like to see Joshua get a knockout or two so they can believe in him again. Right now, many of them feel that he has washed out and is headed for another loss to Dubois.
“What you have is a straight shot at the heavyweight championship against a guy we believe he should have beaten and we all believe we can beat,” Eddie Hearn said. BoxNation about Anthony Joshua wanting the rematch with Daniel Dubois.
Joshua will have a straight shot at another shot at a world title, but he may still have regrets. Dubois showed he has his number, dropping Joshua four times and making him look old in the process.
Joshua turns 35 next week on October 15, and it’s a good idea that he avoids young sluggers like the 27-year-old Dubois. Fighting Tyson Fury or Oleksandr Usyk would be better options for Joshua as neither is a big puncher and he would have a chance to knock them out in a 12 round fight.
“I don’t think AJ will be able to forgive himself if he doesn’t take the rematch. To me, he’ll say, ‘Let’s run it back.’ So, we’ll see this week.
“He doesn’t want knockout wins. He wants the world heavyweight championship,” Hearn said, responding to a suggestion that Joshua was taking a warm-up fight to get a knockout. “We are not going to beat Deontay Wilder, Joe Joyce or Dillian Whyte at this stage. It’s not really going to give us a difference from our fight with Dubois.
“I understand; maybe mentally, you go in with a little more momentum. We don’t have time for momentum. We did the rebuild. The rebuilding was done after Usyk. We had four fights, and then we went in with Dubois. If Ben Davison and AJ believe that’s the route, then maybe we’ll do it,” Hearn said.
For marketing purposes, it’s not a bad idea for Joshua to fight a few tomato cans to help him look good again, and Hearn can tell the public that he’s rejuvenated and better than ever. Some of them will believe him just like they did recently after his four fight rebuild.
“AJ didn’t box well against Dubois. We feel as a team, we can beat Dubois. If we can’t, we can’t, but imagine if we win. Imagine if AJ avenged his loss to Dubois and became a three-time heavyweight champion. It could happen,” Hearn said.
Joshua’s loss to Dubois had nothing to do with him not boxing well, and more to do with his poor punch resistance. He could have boxed the perfect fight, and Dubois would still have gotten to him. AJ will have to be a bigger version of Pernell Whitaker to survive the power shots of Dubois.
