ANTHONY JOSHUA talked down retirement following his brutal loss to Daniel Dubois – and has the option for a rematch.
AJ was floored FOUR times in front of a British-record 96,000 fans at Wembley Stadium.
ReutersAnthony Joshua talked down retirement following his brutal loss to Daniel Dubois[/caption]
ReutersDubois won in round five[/caption]
GettyThis was the finishing right hand[/caption]
Joshua bravely got himself up from the canvas until he simply could not any more with a right hand from Dubois in round five closing the show.
AJ, battered and beaten, showed further resilience by refusing to entertain talk of hanging up the gloves.
He said: “Before I came here, I’m always saying to myself, ‘I’m fighter for life.’
“We rolled the dice at success and we came up short and we roll it again. We keep rolling the dice.”
Joshua, 34, was down in round one following a looping and thudding right hand.
He was also floored in the third, fourth and finally finished off in the fifth when a thudding cross from Dubois, 27, landed on AJ’s chin.
Dubois called out Oleksandr Usyk, 37, to a rematch following his round nine stoppage loss last year.
But promoter Eddie Hearn revealed there is a clause in the contract which gives Joshua the option of a rematch.
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Hearn said: “I’m sure he will exercise that rematch clause. I mean, I think that’s a given.
“But he’ll need a rest and it’s a dangerous fight this guy’s growing in confidence but he’ll believe he can hurt Dubois.
“He’ll believe he can beat him but full credit to Daniel Dubois he deserves all the credit it was a great performance from Daniel.”