- On Saturday night, AJ was taken down in explosive fashion by Daniel Dubois at Wembley.
- But there are no guarantees the pair will meet again in a rematch in the future.
- Joshua to speak on Saudi Arabia’s latest standoff with the Kingdom’s powers-that-be
If Anthony Joshua is to have a rematch against his brutal conqueror Daniel Dubois, it will not be because of a rematch clause in the contract for Saturday’s first IBF heavyweight world title fight.
Joshua’s hopes – if another beating is what he really wants – rest on a clause in his current contract with the sponsors of boxing’s top-flight Riyadh season that allows him to fight one more fight under Saudi auspices.
Whoever the opponent is, that’s a matter for Turki Alalshikh, not Joshua’s team.
Dubois’ beating of AJ four times in the fifth round has turned not only Joshua, but heavyweight boxing, upside down. As Tyson Fury shouted at ringside as Joshua was counted out: “You cost me 150 million.”
The next moves in the multi-million dollar cycle depend on what happens in Fury’s rematch with unified champion Oleksandr Usyk in Riyadh on Christmas week.
Anthony Joshua’s career is at a crossroads following his defeat to Daniel Dubois, but the only thing that is certain is another Saudi-backed fight.
The former two-time world champion was knocked out in the fifth round by Dubois (right) in an explosive performance at Wembley.
Turki Alalshikh has brought some of the best fighters to Saudi Arabia and has signed Joshua for one more showdown.
If the Gypsy King is defeated again by the Ukrainian war hero, then probably all that is left for the two Britons in the equation is to finally take part in their long-awaited fight at Wembley.
That would bring them another bonanza in the bank, but not one as lucrative as if they both held world titles.
And if Fury triumphs over Usyk, we are expected to be heading towards a trilogy battle.
Otherwise, a rematch between Usyk and Dubois after Triple D’s controversial loss in Poland would be a box office success worldwide, not just in the UK.
Behind all the manoeuvring, the biggest question for Joshua, who turns 35 next month, is whether it would be wiser to hang up his gloves with his legacy of Olympic gold and two world titles intact after his heroics in still getting off the canvas on Saturday.
Tyson Fury (right) has long been considered Joshua’s next opponent, but he could yet face Oleksandr Usyk (left) in a trilogy fight.
That was the first truly bad beating of his career, one far more damaging than his bizarre capitulation to the burly Mexican-American Andy Ruiz Jr. in his only other stoppage.
Do you really, really need to risk taking another brain-destroying beating?
The only debatable reason is one that is part of the American boxing mantra: “It’s not the money that matters, it’s just the money.”