Anthony Joshua has dismissed talk of retiring from boxing after a crushing knockout loss to Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium.
‘AJ’ was knocked out in the fifth round in his pursuit of a third heavyweight world title in front of a British-record 96,000 crowd.
And while trainer Ben Davison conceded his fighter was “reckless,” Joshua maintains, despite the devastating loss, he will continue fighting.
“Always walk with your head high, we rolled the dice, for the third time, 13 world title fights, not every one has been successful, but they’ve all been entertaining,” Joshua said.
“Do I still want to continue? Of course I want to continue fighting. We took a shot at success and came up short. Do we run away? No, I’m a warrior, and the way the fight finished, we have to give credit to my opponent Daniel.
“When I sign up for opponents I don’t like them, but now it’s done, I take my hat off to them. Thanks to my team for the way they prepared me, a few mistakes in there, but it’s fine margins, that’ll cost you at this level.”
And Joshua’s trainer Ben Davison maintains the rematch is winnable with a few adjustments.
“We have that fight to look at, I know some adjustments that could be made,” Davison says. “Of course, we’ll be straight at it and looking at that and looking at what we can do better.
“He got off to a shocking start, not nearly won the fight, but still in the fight after such a bad start, I’m very proud of what he showed there.
“Against such a strong fighter, a terrible situation, a lot of fighters wouldn’t keep trying how AJ did.”
While Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn claimed it is the first time he has seen Joshua hurt in his professional career.
“It’s probably the only time in his whole career I’ve seen him really hurt, it’s not bad, having won two world championships and 13 world title fights, to the point he couldn’t get up,” Hearn added.
“It’s the first time in his career that he’s been properly hurt, you never want to carry on too long, but AJ doesn’t have many miles on the clock. When Ben comes to me and says, ‘he doesn’t look the same fighter anymore’, and AJ will make that decision.
“We’ve seen the best AJ over the last year, it’s difficult to say that’s it. These are the closing chapters of his career. We have another fight with RS, Dubois is part of that plan. So too is Tyson Fury or another heavyweight. 2025 is going to be an interesting year for Joshua, against whoever, you’ll be entertained.
“Our interests are that he leaves this sport with legacy, money and his health in tact, knocked out like that you have to look at that. That was just a shot, trading with a huge right hand, it doesn’t matter who you are, you’re getting knocked out.”
