Oscar De La Hoya taunted Eddie Hearn after Daniel Dubois knocked out Anthony Joshua.
Joshua was dropped four times before Dubois ended the fight in the fifth round. The defeat ended Joshua’s hopes of becoming a three-time heavyweight champion as Dubois retained his IBF Heavyweight Title. Joshua was the massive favourite coming into the fight after having stopped his last two opponents, Otto Wallin and Francis Ngannou.
There was a consensus that Joshua was back to his best. After having teamed up with Ben Davidson, he returned to a combination power puncher. However, on reflection, it appeared that his opposition level was not up to scratch. Joshua was tagged and sent to the canvas from the first round, as he never recovered. Davidson’s instructions in the corner also came under fire after he told his fighter to roll the dice.
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Just before Joshua stopped, the Brit landed a few right hands, pushing Dubois back. But rather than staying calm and composed, he opened himself up only to get tagged by a right hand. The result also followed after Frank Warren won the Queensberry vs Matchroom 5 v5 tournament early in June, making it difficult for Hearn against his biggest rival. De La Hoya looked back at the incident by trolling Hearn and urging fighters not to sign with Matchroom Boxing.
“Anthony Joshua was knocked out in the fifth round by Dubois. It was actually an amazing and entertaining fight, and I like AJ. However, this was another huge L for Eddie Hearn, who is literally 0-11 to Frank Warren this year.
“This continues the Matchroom curse, meaning if you sign with Matchroom, you’re either guaranteed to lose or get injured. To make matters worse, Eddie Hearn faced off with his old buddy Devin Haney at the crowd at Wembley. Eddie, you can’t build a fighter to save your life. Anthony Joshua had the world at his fingertips, and you found a way to fumble his career,” De La Hoya said
Nevertheless, there is always a chance that Joshua can come back stronger. In his post-fight comments, he clarified that he would not retire. This raises serious questions over who his next opponent will be. Joshua can take the Dubois rematch and try to avenge that loss. He did so when he took on Andy Ruiz Jr. by changing his game plan and outboxing him. The danger is that Joshua gets stopped once again, which will increase the calls on him to call it a day.
There is also the option of just waiting things out and facing Tyson Fury. The Saudis have said that they want to make Fury and Joshua fight regardless of what results they end up getting. If Fury comes out second best against Oleksandr Usyk in the December 21 rematch, there is a narrative in place to make Joshua-Fury the next. It is the biggest boxing fight out there and would undoubtedly sell out. It would also allow the winner to take on either Dubois or Usyk, who would likely face off.
