Following his brutal defeat by Daniel Dubois, Anthony Joshua has been handed a 28-day ban from boxing.
The Nigeria-born pugilist was knocked out in the fifth round at Wembley in front of 96,000 fans by his 27-year-old domestic rival.
Dubois retained his IBF heavyweight title with an impressive victory, knocking Joshua down four times. As per protocol, Joshua is now prohibited from stepping into the ring for 28 days, with the British Boxing Board of Control enforcing the rule.
The Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports highlights that it’s standard procedure for fighters to be issued medical suspensions after suffering KO and TKO defeats.
The short ban is unlikely to hinder Joshua, given that his next opponent is yet to be named. Despite the setback, Joshua remains determined to continue his boxing career. Following his defeat, the two-time champion said, “Do I want to continue fighting? Of course, I want to continue fighting. We took a shot at success and came up short. Are we gonna run away? No, we’re going to live to fight another day. That’s what I am—a warrior.”
Joshua also praised Dubois, saying, “We have to give credit to my opponent Daniel. When I sign up for fights, I don’t like my opponents in my head anymore, but now it’s done, I take my hat off to him and say well done to him and his team.”
Meanwhile, Eddie Hearn initially stated that Joshua had a rematch clause to face Dubois again.
However, he has since confirmed that there is no rematch clause and that Joshua has one fight remaining on his contract as part of ‘Riyadh Season,’ which could be against Dubois.
Speaking to iFLTV, the Matchroom chief revealed that Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder, and a rematch with Dubois are all under consideration. Given the one-sided nature of his Wembley defeat, Joshua might look to take a different path back to the top and may chase a fight with Fury instead.
Fury is due to have his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk in December after losing their first fight earlier this year. Should he win, the Gypsy King could potentially take a voluntary defense against Joshua to finally settle the score with his domestic rival. Alternatively, another loss to Usyk could leave Fury and Joshua both out of the title picture and free to fight each other in a bid to get back into the mix.
Deontay Wilder is another fighter who has long been linked with facing Joshua, having held the WBC title between 2015 and 2020. Joshua and Wilder’s teams never managed to agree on terms for an undisputed showdown before Fury relieved Wilder of his belt. Wilder has lost his last two bouts against Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang and turns 39 next month, but is considering a return to the ring.
A fight with Joshua could appeal to both fighters, with the winner setting their sights on one final crack at becoming a champion again, while the loser would likely sail off into the sunset.