Anthony Joshua has broken his silence in his first appearance since being beaten by Daniel Dubois at Wembley and insists he can return to become world champion once again.
In a video on his Instagram account on Monday afternoon, the British heavyweight reiterated that he will not retire from professional boxing after being knocked out in the fifth round by Dubois in front of a record 96,000 crowd at Wembley on Saturday.
Questions have been raised over whether the 34-year-old should hang up his gloves following the brutal knockout, and speculation is now rife over whether British boxing fans will ever get to see Joshua and Tyson Fury meet in the ring for the undisputed title. Fury was even heard suggesting that Joshua’s defeat could have cost him £150million following the loss.
But even amid the noise, with some calling for Joshua to hang up his gloves, the defiant Briton insisted he had the heart to return and challenge at the top of the heavyweight division once more.
“We fell short, but we have to look at all the positives and that’s the mentality we have to have: positive, always,” Joshua said in a video on his Instagram account.
A defiant Anthony Joshua has insisted he will bounce back from his brutal defeat to Daniel Dubois and fight on.
Joshua suffered a devastating knockout during the fifth round of his fight against Dubois.
‘Look what we’ve achieved in the space of 11 years and I want to thank everyone who has been on the journey with me.
“What a roller coaster ride. But you know the problem: it’s still a long way off.”
Joshua, who previously held the IBF, IBO and WBO belts, has now suffered four defeats during his distinguished career.
The first was when Andy Ruiz Jr. defeated him via TKO in 2019. He would regain his belts in their rematch later that year. His next losses came against Oleksandr Usyk, in 2021 and 2022, and Joshua admitted during the build-up to his fight against Dubois that he had “been through a lot of pain” since then.
“Doing it once, doing it twice, doing it a third time hasn’t been easy, but I think it’s something I can do,” she told her fans on Instagram.
“We’re working hard, taking the right steps forward and this has to come from here, more than anything,” Joshua said, pounding his fist on his chest.
“It can’t come from any outside voice or influence, it has to come from here (the heart). It’s only been a day, but I’ve been sitting there thinking, ‘I know I’ve got a lot of this (heart), man.'”
There have been questions about whether the 34-year-old Briton should hang up his boxing gloves, but he insisted he would return.
Despite being disliked by many, Dubois retained his IBF world heavyweight title at Wembley
Dubois (left) came out landing punches on Joshua, who took a beating in the first five rounds.
‘Just a video to say, thank you for your support and thank you for being with me on this roller coaster.
‘Fasten your seatbelts, because deep down in here,’ he said, beating his chest, ‘I know I have so much more to offer. British boxing, I appreciate you and we rise together.
‘Come on!’
Immediately after the fight, Joshua vowed to continue boxing, telling reporters: “And you’re probably wondering, ‘Do I want to keep fighting?’ Of course I want to keep fighting.
“That’s why I said we tried to succeed and we didn’t. And what does that mean right now?
“Are we going to escape? Are we going to live to fight another day? And that’s what I am. A warrior.”
Joshua vowed to fight on despite speculation he might retire, with the Briton claiming he was a “warrior”.
However, Joshua may have just been dealt another blow to his hopes of getting a rematch against Dubois. His promoter Eddie Hearn has stated that Joshua and Dubois have a rematch clause and that he intended to activate that deal.
However, Frank Warren told talkSPORT that Dubois does not have a rematch clause in his fight deal, but added that his team would be open to discussing a rematch.
More news to come later…