EDDIE HEARN revealed he was “screaming” at Anthony Joshua before Daniel Dubois knocked him out.
Hearn watched in horror as AJ was floored FOUR times before a crushing right hand in round five closed the show.
Just a round earlier, Joshua was again sent to a canvas before the bout was momentarily halted after Dubois landed a low blow.
AJ was entitled to up to five minutes to recover from the illegal punch – which could have been pivotal to recovering from the prior onslaught.
But Joshua was quick to tell the referee he was OK to fight on – something Hearn chalked up as a rookie mistake.
He said: “People talk about him taking the knee, spitting a gumshield out, listen, when Daniel Dubois hit him in the nuts in the third or fourth round, I’m screaming at AJ to take the full five minutes.
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“That’s actually a little bit of inexperience. At that point when he couldn’t stand up, he’s been hit full blown in the conkers, all he’s got to do to the ref is [say] but that’s not him.
“He just went to the ref, ‘I’m fine, come on, let’s go’. I’m like, ‘no, no, what are you doing?’.
“And then it happened again because he just came to fight tonight. When you talk about entertainment, maybe vulnerability, but also a huge puncher who’s prepared to let his hands go.
“It was a hell of a fight, hell of a fight, and as gutted as we are Daniel deserves a lot of credit because tonight was his crowning night.
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“Not being elevated to interim champion, tonight was the night I believe he became a real world champion.”
Joshua, 34, spoke out after his defeat to insist he will NOT retire.
He is still contracted to one more bout with Riyadh season and Saudi Arabia’s boxing supremo Turki Alalshikh.
And Hearn named a rematch with Dubois, 27, as an option to take.
But Tyson Fury, 36, who rematches Oleksandr Usyk, 37, is another alternative.
Fury lost his WBC belt and unbeaten record to Usyk in May and now rematch on December 21.
And Hearn has said in victory or even defeat for Fury it could pave the way for a Joshua fight.
Deontay Wilder, 38, is another wildcard option despite the American losing his last two bouts.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
