Anthony Joshua Pleaded To Face One Heavyweight Next But Fight Has Been Shut Down By His Team

Anthony Joshua is once again on the sidelines of the heavyweight division having taken another loss in his most recent fight.

British former two time world champion Joshua sat at the top of the boxing world for several years during a period of great dominance in which he unified three of the four world titles.

There were set backs along the way including an upset loss to Andy Ruiz Jr which he immediately avenged in a rematch six months later. Despite becoming world champion again, he was soon unable to solve the puzzle of Oleksandr Usyk.

The pair shared 24 rounds in back-to-back fights but Joshua ultimately came out without his belts. Usyk has since gone on to become undisputed king of the banner division with his win over Tyson Fury in May, and Joshua himself also rebuilt with four straight wins before being stopped inside five rounds by Daniel Dubois back in September.

Speaking to Boxing News, Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn has said Joshua is keen to fight Dubois as soon as possible.

“AJ’s next fight may well be against Daniel Dubois, but it won’t be on February 22nd. We had a very awkward call with AJ’s medical team, 258, Ben Davison, and he wanted to fight on February 22nd but basically he was told there is no way he can start camp and be 100 % for February 22nd physically.”

He then spoke of the injuries which are keeping him out of camp and the new timeline.

“There is nothing major, two or three issues, a little bit in camp but also the fight. They said he needs to come back in May, June. He didn’t want to do it but we had to overrule him on this.

“We said we can’t afford not to get this right, you get beaten by Daniel Dubois and you have to seriously consider your career. We’ve got one chapter than we need to get 100% spot on. Whenever he comes back he has to be physically and mentally perfect. He wants to rematch Daniel Dubois so bad.”