FRANK WARREN has revealed what Anthony Joshua needs to do to secure a fight with Tyson Fury.
AJ suffered a humbling night at Wembley on Saturday as Daniel Dubois battered him and knocked him out in five rounds in front of a record crowd.
Anthony Joshua was knocked out by Daniel Dubois on SaturdayReuters
AJ’s defeat has hampered a potential fight with Tyson FuryGetty
It halts the momentum Joshua had built with four wins since his back-to-back defeats to Oleksandr Usyk.
And there has even been talk of Joshua hanging up his gloves – though he insisted after the fight that he wants to carry on.
Joshua retiring would mean the biggest fight in British boxing history – against Fury – never happens.
Speaking on talkSPORT about AJ’s future, Frank Warren, who promotes both Dubois and Fury, said: “Fighters are proud, proud men. It’s the toughest of all sports. It’s one on one.
“We’re all easy [to call for fighters to retire] – and I’ve been guilty of it in the past. I said that Derek Chisora should retire and he won last time out. He proved everybody wrong against Joe Joyce and I think that’s their decision.
“And I’ll tell you one thing about boxers. Boxers are the first people to know when they should retire. But the last to admit it.
“[It’s] for the people around them to give him advice and them to take it on board. But whatever AJ does his team will support him and that’s it.
“This sport, if you’re not at the top of your game, then you should bail out. There’s no doubt about it, because it’s the hurt business. But that’s his decision to make.”
CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERS
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.
Joshua has a rematch clause he could choose to trigger for a second fight against Dubois.
Meanwhile, Fury will look to avenge his only professional loss to Usyk when they meet again on December 21.
And Warren has confirmed AJ will need to pick up a win if he is to finally face Fury.
Asked whether Fury vs Joshua has “gone” following Saturday’s result, Warren added: “I don’t know.
“If he comes back and has a win. Who knows?”
Joshua now has four losses on his pro record – the Dubois defeat adding to one against Andy Ruiz and two against Usyk.
‘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.”