By: Sean Crose
Things haven’t been great for former world titlist Anthony Joshua these past few years. While the man bulldozed through UFC star Francis Ngannou last March, the truth is that the towering Englishman has lost three major fights since 2021. Two of those fights were against the now legendary Olekdandr Usyk, the closest thing boxing currently has to a chess master. Joshua’s last bout, which went down this past September, however, saw him get crushed by Daniel Dubois, a talented fighter, no doubt, but not one people were apt to think could beat Joshua. It’s understandable that some might feel the 35 year old Joshua’s best days are now behind him.
According to promoter Eddie Hearn, however, Joshua isn’t thinking of retirement, “one because physically he feels good and he’s looking good but also because when you suffer a loss like that the decision is not, ‘Shall we retire?’ It’s now about, ‘How do we look when we come back?’” Appearing on the White and Jordan show, Hearn made it clear he believes there’s a process to such things. “I think a fighter off the back of a defeat a couple of weeks after they are generally okay,” the Matchroom honcho said. “They go back to the gym, everyone is giving them a pat on the back and they are okay.”
Is Joshua okay, though? “He is hurting,” Hearn admitted. “He took a pasting at times in that fight (Joshua’s knockout defeat against Dubois) and I think he has got his back up and he wants to come back stronger.” Indeed, Hearn indicated that Joshua is an individual with heart to spare. “He had to go through that experience,” Hearn said of the Dubois fight. “He never stopped trying, he never stopped trying to get up till the point where he couldn’t get up.”
Still, even Hearn made it clear the end of Joshua’s career is now far closer than the beginning. With that in mind, there’s two battles he’d like to see his enormously popular fighter engage in before calling it a career. “One is a Daniel Dubois rematch,” said Hearn, “and one is a Tyson Fury fight.” Even having said that though, Hearn appears to be aware that his fighter’s very impressive career is now winding down. “How many fights have we got left?” Hearn asked rhetorically. “Could be one, could be three, but it’s that range.”
Fair enough. Sometimes less is better – especially when it comes to a sport as brutal as boxing can be.