ANTHONY JOSHUA’S coach has revealed the two-time world champ’s final words before his knockout defeat to Daniel Dubois.
AJ was beaten by Dubois with a fifth round knockout in front of a record-breaking Wembley crowd.
GettyAnthony Joshua’s final words before his defeat to Daniel Dubois have been revealed[/caption]
ReutersBen Davison revealed AJ said, ‘These are the moments we live for’ just before his KO[/caption]
PADavison said he and his team would take the blame for AJ’s defeat[/caption]
Dubois, 27, retained his IBF heavyweight title after decking Joshua three times in the opening four rounds before he dealt the decisive blow.
But Joshua’s coach, Ben Davison, has now revealed the Brit’s final words before he was undone by Dynamite Dan.
Speaking to reporters following the fight, he said: “I was asking for something from him.
“And he let me know he was okay and was actually talking in there.
“And then he came back before the last round and said ‘this is the moments we live for’.
“He also spoke about ‘rolling the dice’ and that is exactly what he did in that round.
“People talk about when they are having an off night and it was an off night for AJ.
“But I’d like to say, me and my team have received a hell of lot of credit for good performances he’s had, so it’s important we take responsibility for the bad performance as well.”
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Joshua, 34, rubbished any idea he could retire following the defeat, while Eddie Hearn also revealed they were likely to exercise the rematch clause in the contract.
Asked what went wrong, Joshua simply said: “The opponent.”
He added: “Credit to him and his team, we rolled the dice at success and we came up short.
“You know I’m p****d, you know I’m ready to kick off in the ring. But I’m going to keep my cool and keep very professional and give the respect to my opponent.”
Round by round: How Dubois demolished Joshua
ANTHONY JOSHUA bravely picked himself up from the floor against Daniel Dubois – until he could no more.
AJ was floored four times in five rounds by Dubois before a thudding counter right closed the show in dramatic fashion.
Here, SunSport’s Jack Figg takes you round-by-round from the Wembley war.
ROUND 1
Dubois comes out sharp with the jab as Joshua bounces around struggling to deal with the piston-like left.
Huge right hand from Dubois has AJ staggering backwards with his hands far too low from the opening bell.
Joshua made to pay for the mistake as he circles out with his hands down and gets dropped by an overhand right.
ROUND 2
Joshua – saved only by the bell after being floored – struggles to get going as he takes shots to the face.
AJ is tottering and teetering around the ring with his guard again dangerously low and inviting pressure on.
Joshua is attempting to get back into the bout but his jab looks far too lazy – he doesn’t look to have recovered from the knockdown.
ROUND 3
AJ comes out with more intent but swings wildly with a right and connects with only thin air.
Dubois pours on the pressure and hammers Joshua into the corner scoring another knockdown.
The bell sounds but Dubois lands one or two afterwards – again AJ is saved by the clock as the writing looks on the wall.
ROUND 4
Disaster strikes again with Joshua floored once more – losing his balance as he touches the canvas.
The referee gives AJ another fighting chance and Dubois lands a low blow – giving the challenger some valuable respite.
Dubois slows down as four rounds come to a close with Joshua showing sensational resilience to hang in there.
ROUND 5
Joshua lands a huge right hand and Dubois legs buckle – an astonishing turnaround looks to be on the cards.
AJ pins Dubois onto the ropes and attempts one of his signature uppercuts but the countering right hand gets there first.
Joshua is caught flush on the chin, dropped once more and this time out for good. Dubois scores a stunning KO win.
World champion Oleksandr Usyk – who appeared to predict Dubois’ ascendancy to a year ago – said he was “not surprised” of the result, and revealed what he felt was the key difference between the fighters.
He said: “I’m not shocked because this is boxing. Daniel Dubois today was better.
“Anthony had one problem. Because this position [leans back with feet planted], it’s dangerous.
“If you want to, you step back like this [takes one foot back], not like this [repeats lean] because this is dangerous. We saw.”
‘Are you not entertained? I’m a gladiator’ – What Dubois and Joshua said after brutal fight
DANIEL DUBOIS annihilated Anthony Joshua’s dream of becoming a three-time world heavyweight champion, writes Wally Downes Jr.
Joshua was floored FOUR times as Dubois landed an astonishing fifth-round knockout in front of a record 96,000 Wembley crowd and millions of TV viewers to retain his IBF belt.
AJ, 34, never recovered after being downed in the first round of last night’s Battle of Britain showdown as a huge Dubois right-hand haymaker caught him flush on the chin.
Here’s what they said after the fight:
DANIEL DUBOIS
“Are you not entertained? I’m a gladiator, a warrior to the bitter end. This is the biggest win of my career. I couldn’t let this opportunity go and now I want to go to the top level of this game.
“I’ve been on a roller-coaster ride and this is my time. I’m not gonna stop until I reach my full potential.”
ANTHONY JOSHUA
“As p***ed off as I am, it is what it is.
“I had a sharp, fast opponent and there were a lot of mistakes from me. Credit to my opponent and his team.
“We rolled the dice and came up short. You know I’m p***ed but I’m going to keep cool and give respect to my opponent.”
FRANK WARREN (DUBOIS’ PROMOTER)
“It was a phenomenal fight, like Hagler v Hearns.
“A brilliant fight and everybody has seen a champion’s performance tonight.
“Daniel has shown his courage, his skills.
“AJ caught him with a shot towards the end and I was worried, but what a fabulous, fantastic fight.”
EDDIE HEARN (AJ’S PROMOTER)
“AJ shipped a huge right hand in the first round and was fighting on heart.
“He hurt Daniel at the end of the fourth and then again in the fifth, but got greedy and walked on to a right hand and that’s all she wrote.
“I’m sure Anthony will exercise the rematch clause.”