Eddie Hearn has danced around the topic of whether Anthony Joshua would be willing to go through another career rebuild if he loses to IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois on September 21 at Wembley Stadium in London.
Hearn refused to admit that Joshua, 34, faces retirement if he is destroyed by Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs) because it is a very real possibility. Even if Joshua didn’t retire, he would put his career on the line in a rematch.
Joshua is coming off a long two-year, flour-fight rebuild after his second loss to Oleksandr Usyk in 2022.
He spent a lot of time coming back from that loss, and there’s no telling if he’s fully back or not, because the opposition Hearn faced were non-world class fighters. Francis Ngnanou, Otto Wallin and Robert Helenius are not world class fighters.
So, we don’t know what will happen to Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) when he gets in there with Dubois, a fighter who at 27 is in the prime of his career, full of confidence from three consecutive impressive performances.
“Every fight for Anthony Joshua is important at this stage. He’s trying to become a three-time heavyweight champion, but he’s already lost and rebuilt. How high are the stakes for him in a fight like this?” said Chris Mannix Matchroom Boxingand talks to promoter Eddie Hearn about what happens to Anthony Joshua if he loses to Daniel Dubois on September 21st. “If it doesn’t go his way, is he perhaps willing to rebuild from scratch?
Joshua is unlikely to agree to another four-fight rebuild because his pride would be hurt if he walks away from a loss to the much younger Dubois, who he was expected to beat. He’ll have to fight Dubois again, and that’s where things could really fall apart.
Would Joshua be willing to hang on after losing twice to Dubois? Dereck Chisora has shown that the British public does not care how often he loses. Would it be the same for Joshua?
“With the Usyk loss, everyone was talking about when it was Franklin and Helenius, and especially Wallin and Ngannou. “Oh, if Anthony loses here” or “Oh, if he loses here.” What if he wins? I think the pressure of defeat for Anthony has always been there, but it’s only on himself,” says Hearn.
These are poor examples by Hearn. Fans didn’t think Joshua was going to lose to Otto Wallin or Francis Ngannou. Those two fights were considered mismatches in favor of Joshua, and the same with his fights against Robert Helenius and Jermaine Franklin.
“I was with him for the camp last Friday. He was pumped for this fight (Dubois),” Hearn said. “He speaks: ‘I must win this battle.’ Normally it is refrigerated. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.” He knows the importance of this battle. We know the threat of Dubois. No one is trying to badmouth Dubois.”
Joshua is obviously nervous because he knows how important the Dubois fight is to his career. He has the Tyson Fury mega payday ahead of him in 2025, and he understands that he can’t go back in that fight from a loss to Dubois.
“We don’t have to undersell Dubois. We are aware of the risk,” Hearn said. “He’s a young man in his prime who has a high volume and is a big puncher. It’s a very dangerous fight, but you have two heavyweights who are in the shape of their career right now.
“I’ve watched AJ in the past and watched some of his fights when he beat the likes of (Wladimir) Klitschko (in April 2017). I actually now realize what a raw novice AJ was when he fought Klitschko. He was straight and lean,” Hearn said.
Joshua doesn’t look like he’s improved since his fight with Wladimir in 2017. He’s gotten older and slower and doesn’t throw as many punches as he used to. He struggled and dropped the 41-year-old Wlasdimir in that fight. If it was a younger Wladimir, who still had Emanuel Steward in his corner as his trainer, Joshua would have been in trouble.
Steward had passed away five years before, and Wladimir didn’t follow instructions from his corner to go after Joshua after dropping him off. He was encouraged to do it, but he did not want to do it.
Steward would have motivated Wladimir to finish Joshua, and AJ’s career would never have started the way it did. Fate worked in Joshua’s favor, but it could have quickly gone the other way had he fought Wladimir when he was younger and still had Steward.
“He’s an all-around fighter now, but that doesn’t matter in the heavyweight division. You’re in with a big puncher, and that can change. This fight (Joshua vs. Dubois) could be over very early, or it could go deep. AJ, as always, prepares for every opportunity.
“It’s a big battle for him personally. Three-time heavyweight world champion. It’s not a feat that many in the sport have achieved,” Hearn said.
This is a very big moment for Joshua, to face a young fighter with the power, knowledge and the motivation that Dubois brings to their fight on September 21.
