Daniel Dubois‘ quest to become a “kingslayer” is complete. He passed the litmus test of being a worthy world champion by beating the former two-time unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua with ease, knocking him down four times, and eventually shutting the lights out of AJ in the fifth round with a devastating right hook to the chin. The 34-year-old fighter, who came into the Wembley showdown as a heavy favorite, was outclassed by the young and hungry defending champion Daniel Dubois.

After such a devastating loss, what now for AJ? Is he going to retire? Well, his post-match interview says otherwise. “I will carry on fighting. I’m a warrior,” AJ said calmly. But, after the defeat against Dubois, his options are dwindling. He seems to have been shifted lower down on the pecking order. A win against ‘DDD’ would have set him up nicely for an undisputed title fight against the winner of the clash between Tyson Fury and unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk on December 21. Unfortunately, AJ’s humbling loss has forced Eddie Hearn to look for the ‘loser’ of the showdown between ‘The Gypsy King’ and ‘The Cat’.

In the post-match interview after the conclusion of the Joshua-Dubois showdown, Hearn stated that Fury could be the potential suitor for AJ’s upcoming fight, provided he loses his match against Usyk. Moreover, another showdown with Dubois could also be on the cards due to a rematch clause signed between the two fighters. “We have another fight with Riyadh Season and HE Turki Alalshikh – Dubois is part of that plan, but so could be Fury or another heavyweight… We fancied winning tonight and facing the winner of Usyk vs Fury, now we may end up fighting the loser of that fight if it’s Fury,” Hearn said.

But the boxing fans are not willing to put up with Hearn’s plans for Joshua. The feeling among the community is that Joshua matching up with any of the opponents Hearn listed is a lost cause based on his current form. Therefore, they reiterated the thought in the comments section of Michael Benson’s post. So, what did they exactly say?

Is this the end of the road for Anthony Joshua?

One fan claimed that Hearn is dilly-dallying about reactivating Joshua’s rematch clause with Dubois. They commented, “One Bro knows joshua will get destroyed again in a rematch with dubois so he’s backtracking after saying they will activate the rematch 😂 take the rematch u never know.” After the humbling Joshua received at the hands of Dubois, Hearn stated in another media interview that AJ would reactivate the rematch clause and fight Dubois upon his return. However, there is a hint of contraction in Hearn’s post-match presser as Fury’s name was also brought up as one of Joshua’s prospective opponents for his upcoming fight.

One fan urged Hearn to drop the plan of AJ vs Tyson Fury as the latter would win his fight against Usyk, upending Eddie Hearn’s dream of another successful all-British showdown. They remarked, “Fury ain’t losing so scrap that plan now.” However, ‘The Gypsy King’ could lose the rematch against Usyk as it will be a very tough battle. It is important to remind the fans that Fury will be getting into the ring against a two-division undisputed champion.

One fan believed that the decline of Anthony Joshua had begun as he was coming across as easily beatable. They wrote, “AJ’s done as a contender. Great guy, but too easy to hit.” Anthony Joshua now has four losses on his record, two via knockouts against Andy Ruiz and Daniel Dubois. Some serious questions should now be asked about the durability of AJ’s chin.

Another fan believed that AJ needs to hang up his boxing gloves, instead of being exploited by promoters and matchmakers further for his crowd-pulling abilities. “AJ just needs to retire, he’s made his money, he still has his health, retire and enjoy life rather than be used as a cash cow.” Indeed, Anthony Joshua has been a great champion and has never ducked a daunting challenge in his professional career. He has faced elite boxers like Oleksandr Usyk, Wladimir Klitschko, Dillian Whyte, Andy Ruiz Jr., and Joseph Parker; and has always been a major PPV attraction.

Meanwhile, one fan claimed that the former two-time unified champion has been given a lot of chances to right his wrongs, but he has squandered it. They wrote, “Anthonu Joshua has Lmao they just don’t give up they have gotten Joshua so many chances and he keeps f*cking them up. Move on, his not at that level.” Notably, Joshua was given the chance to get back his heavyweight titles whenever he lost them. He got the rematch against Andy Ruiz and Usyk. Although he was successful against the Mexican boxer, he failed against the skillful Ukranian.

After the loss against Dubois, the journey in the heavyweight division will be difficult to navigate for the 34-year-old. It remains to be seen if AJ will be the same explosive boxer again if he still continues to fight.

Do you think Anthony Joshua should retire from professional boxing? Or, do you think the British boxer still has something to prove to the boxing world? Let us know in the comment section below.