Why Anthony Joshua’s immediate rematch against Daniel Dubois is ‘the end of his career’ after brutal KO loss

British former world champion has listed fights that AJ could target instead of an immediate Dubois rematch

AN immediate rematch with Daniel Dubois would mark the end of Anthony Joshua’s career, claims Carl Froch.

The former super-middleweight champion, 47, watched as Joshua was beaten by Dubois via a brutal fifth-round knockout at Wembley Stadium last Saturday.

Anthony Joshua was brutally beaten by Daniel Dubois
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Anthony Joshua was brutally beaten by Daniel DuboisCredit: Reuters

Carl Froch has had his say on Joshua's future
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Carl Froch has had his say on Joshua’s futureCredit: YOUTUBE / FROCH ON FIGHTING
Since his defeat, defiant AJ has revealed that he will not retire.

He then met with promoter Eddie Hearn and Saudi Arabia boxing supremo Turki Alalshikh to discuss his future.

Hearn, 45, went on to reveal that Joshua is set to rematch Dubois, with Alalshikh keen for the fight to happen.

Froch, however, believes that this would be a bad move for Joshua’s future prospects.

Speaking on his Froch on Fighting YouTube channel, he said: “There’s talks now of an immediate rematch with Daniel Dubois.

“I think Eddie Hearn’s keen to chuck him straight back in there, because obviously Anthony Joshua is Eddie’s big cash cow, let’s be honest.

“He’s back in the driving seat if AJ can rectify that run. But for me, I think that’s a bad fight.

“An immediate rematch, Daniel Dubois is licking his lips, saying ‘I wasn’t happy with my performance, I think I can finish Anthony Joshua even earlier’.

“And he will come confident. First fight he went in he wasn’t sure if he belonged there.

“He’d been elevated to IBF champion after beating (Filip) Hrgovic, so does he belong at world level?

“Now he knows he belongs at world level, he knows what he can do to Anthony Joshua when he clips him on the chin.

“An immediate rematch, for me, is the end of Anthony Joshua’s career, and I don’t think that should be happening.”

On what he would advise Joshua to do, Froch added: “Then you’ve got to look down the ladder and see who’s next.

Anthony Joshua warned not to repeat tactic that ‘didn’t do s*** for him’ as he’s told to rematch Dubois straight away
“You’ve got (Martin) Bakole, you’ve got Zhilei Zhang, big puncher – you’ve got Joseph Parker who’s on a bit of a crest of a wave after his Deontay Wilder win.

“They’re three fights there, those opponents would be going against Anthony Joshua really sticking it on him – and if he loses to one of them that’s definitely the end of him – even more so than if he gets flattened again by Dubois.”

Froch then went on to mention Dillian Whyte as another possibility, before raising a different option altogether.

“Maybe the smart move is to sit back and wait, and not fight, see how the landscape changes, see what happens with Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.”

 

Froch claimed that if the Gypsy King were to lose to Usyk again when they rematch on December 21, that he could be the opponent for Joshua.

He added that the bout would surely provide another big Wembley pay day, before AJ could “sail off into the sunset”.