BOB ARUM has brutally told Anthony Joshua his boxing career is all-but “OVER” after defeat to Daniel Dubois.
AJ hit the canvas FOUR times on the way to his fifth-round knockout loss against Dubois in front of a British-record 98,000 fans.
Joshua has talked down retirement in the aftermath and is already being lined up for a rematch.
But Hall of Famer Arum – a promoter across seven decades – sees no way back for AJ other than a fight with Deontay Wilder.
He told FightHub: “No, you don’t have an off night getting the s*** kicked out of you that way.
“I just think AJ has been through a lot of wars. And I think it’s over for him as well as over for Wilder.
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“Maybe they can fight each other, that’d be good.”
Wilder is coming off two defeats against Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang.
The American, 38, has not officially hung up the gloves and his coach Malik Scott spoke out to talk down retirement.
Joshua, 34, meanwhile met with promoter Eddie Hearn and Saudi boxing supremo Turki Alalshikh just days after his loss to Dubois.
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And Hearn revealed all parties are on board for a potential rematch – targeted for February.
He said talkSPORT: “Rematch clauses come in many different forms.
“We have a fight with Riyadh Season. One of our options is to fight Daniel Dubois again, and our contract is with them.
“His Excellency [Turki Alalshikh] will deal with Frank and Daniel and make that fight happen. The terms will have to be agreed with them.
“We have already agreed our terms, we have the option to rematch with Dubois.
“Our meetings with His Excellency, he wants the rematch. AJ will always want the rematch.
“Daniel wants the rematch too it’s the biggest fight for him and they will fancy it.
“It is a case of going away and talking about, do we go straight into the rematch? And when will it be?
“It was a heavy night at the office, we aren’t going back to fight in 10-12 weeks, he needs his rest and time to recover.”
Round by round: How Dubois demolished Joshua
ANTHONY JOSHUA bravely picked himself up from the floor against Daniel Dubois – until he could no more.
AJ was floored four times in five rounds by Dubois before a thudding counter right closed the show in dramatic fashion.
Here, SunSport’s Jack Figg takes you round-by-round from the Wembley war.
ROUND 1
Dubois comes out sharp with the jab as Joshua bounces around struggling to deal with the piston-like left.
Huge right hand from Dubois has AJ staggering backwards with his hands far too low from the opening bell.
Joshua made to pay for the mistake as he circles out with his hands down and gets dropped by an overhand right.
ROUND 2
Joshua – saved only by the bell after being floored – struggles to get going as he takes shots to the face.
AJ is tottering and teetering around the ring with his guard again dangerously low and inviting pressure on.
Joshua is attempting to get back into the bout but his jab looks far too lazy – he doesn’t look to have recovered from the knockdown.
ROUND 3
AJ comes out with more intent but swings wildly with a right and connects with only thin air.
Dubois pours on the pressure and hammers Joshua into the corner scoring another knockdown.
The bell sounds but Dubois lands one or two afterwards – again AJ is saved by the clock as the writing looks on the wall.
ROUND 4
Disaster strikes again with Joshua floored once more – losing his balance as he touches the canvas.
The referee gives AJ another fighting chance and Dubois lands a low blow – giving the challenger some valuable respite.
Dubois slows down as four rounds come to a close with Joshua showing sensational resilience to hang in there.
ROUND 5
Joshua lands a huge right hand and Dubois legs buckle – an astonishing turnaround looks to be on the cards.
AJ pins Dubois onto the ropes and attempts one of his signature uppercuts but the countering right hand gets there first.
Joshua is caught flush on the chin, dropped once more and this time out for good. Dubois scores a stunning KO win.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
