ANTHONY JOSHUA has plummeted down the Ring Magazine’s heavyweight rankings following defeat to Daniel Dubois.
AJ was knocked out by a brutal right hand in round five in front of a British-record 98,000 fans at Wembley.
It leaves Joshua’s career hanging in the balance meanwhile Dubois has never looked better – with their Ring rankings a reflection.
AJ has shot down to SEVENTH while Dubois is up at second behind No1 challenger Tyson Fury and champion Oleksandr Usyk.
Joshua, 34, has shunned retirement talk in the aftermath of his loss and is already being lined up with a rematch against Dubois, 27.
Usyk, 37, meanwhile faces Fury, 36, for the second time on December 21 following his undisputed title victory in May.
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But to proceed with the Riyadh rematch he was forced to vacate the IBF belt which Dubois inherited after being elevated from interim champ.
Reacting to the updated list, Fury posted: “Back to number1 on dec21 been repping 22 years and counting.”
Joseph Parker is third in the Ring rankings following a run of five wins, including one against Deontay Wilder.
In his last fight, the New Zealander beat Zhilei Zhang, who is one place below in fourth.
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Agit Kabayel breaks into the top five after a good run of wins with his last coming in May against Frank Sanchez.
Martin Bakole is one place above Joshua off the back of his victory over American prospect Jared Anderson.
Below AJ is Filip Hrgovic who was beaten by Dubois in an IBF title fight.
Efe Ajagba comes in at ninth while Justis Huni breaks into the top ten after going 9-0.
‘Are you not entertained? I’m a gladiator’ – What Dubois and Joshua said after brutal fight
DANIEL DUBOIS annihilated Anthony Joshua’s dream of becoming a three-time world heavyweight champion, writes Wally Downes Jr.
Joshua was floored FOUR times as Dubois landed an astonishing fifth-round knockout in front of a record 96,000 Wembley crowd and millions of TV viewers to retain his IBF belt.
AJ, 34, never recovered after being downed in the first round of last night’s Battle of Britain showdown as a huge Dubois right-hand haymaker caught him flush on the chin.
Here’s what they said after the fight:
DANIEL DUBOIS
“Are you not entertained? I’m a gladiator, a warrior to the bitter end. This is the biggest win of my career. I couldn’t let this opportunity go and now I want to go to the top level of this game.
“I’ve been on a roller-coaster ride and this is my time. I’m not gonna stop until I reach my full potential.”
ANTHONY JOSHUA
“As p***ed off as I am, it is what it is.
“I had a sharp, fast opponent and there were a lot of mistakes from me. Credit to my opponent and his team.
“We rolled the dice and came up short. You know I’m p***ed but I’m going to keep cool and give respect to my opponent.”
FRANK WARREN (DUBOIS’ PROMOTER)
“It was a phenomenal fight, like Hagler v Hearns.
“A brilliant fight and everybody has seen a champion’s performance tonight.
“Daniel has shown his courage, his skills.
“AJ caught him with a shot towards the end and I was worried, but what a fabulous, fantastic fight.”
EDDIE HEARN (AJ’S PROMOTER)
“AJ shipped a huge right hand in the first round and was fighting on heart.
“He hurt Daniel at the end of the fourth and then again in the fifth, but got greedy and walked on to a right hand and that’s all she wrote.
“I’m sure Anthony will exercise the rematch clause.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
