The prospect of Anthony Joshua facing Tyson Fury in a major bout appears to be gone after Daniel Dubois stopped him in front of over 100,000 spectators at Wembley Stadium.

 

 

“AJ” was sluggish right away, and due to careless defence, Dubois—who was the IBF World Heavyweight Champion when he entered and left the ring—was able to take advantage of this and knock him down in the opening round.

From that point on, save from a few offensive locations, Joshua’s job was primarily one of survival. Having delivered the fight’s best blow in the fifth round, Dubois regained momentum with the knockout blow.

Joshua’s intentions had completely fallen through. Before the bout, a lot of attention focused on his potential victory and how it would set up a rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury in December. Naturally, the most profitable outcome for both “AJ” and Fury would have been their victories in what may have been the greatest boxing match ever.

 

That isn’t the case now, and it never will be. In a video released by Fight Hub TV, Fury stated that he had turned his attention to Dubois following Usyk 2.

“Dudes, it’s heavyweight boxing; things happen. Anybody may have been the victim—me, you, or anybody else could have been. I’m going to reclaim all of my belts; I only have to beat my man, the f***ing rabbit. I promise. I’ll reclaim all the belts I never should have lost when I defeat Usyk in December. After that, I’ll face Dubois and remove the [IBF] from him as well. That’s how I want things to go.

Naturally, Usyk has other ideas. After defeating Dubois by stoppage last year, Dubois has already summoned Usyk back for a rematch.

 

Joshua will now think about using a contractual rematch provision to square off against the 27-year-old, who will be more assured than ever as one of the most potent heavyweights in the division, according to promoter Eddie Hearn.