Anthony Joshua‘s hopes of becoming a three-time heavyweight champion came crashing down on September 21 in front of a packed Wembley stadium. The IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois made the 34-year-old former unified heavyweight champion look like an amateur. ‘DDD’ was on the offensive from the get-go, taking the center of the ring and dominating Joshua from the first bell. The Greenwich native went on to knock him down four times in the fight and put an end to AJ’s misery in the fifth round with a well-timed punch to the chin. But where does Joshua go from here after such a devastating defeat? Can he ever fight for the heavyweight title again?

After the fight, while walking out of the dressing room, boxing commentator Steve Bunce from BBC Five caught up with the Watford native to ask what went wrong for him in the fight and also inquired about his future in boxing. Bunce began by asking AJ about what happened in the first round.

“The first round? Overhand right. Chin in the air. No defense! Kaboom. It was a bit of a downhill slope from there. Tried to change the tide. But, it weren’t my night tonight, Steve,” Joshua replied, dejectedly, in an honest assessment of the fight.

Thereafter, Bunce pointed out to AJ that he was beginning to gain momentum in the fifth round after he was demolished for the previous four. “You looked truly focused going in the fifth,” Bunce remarked. So, what was going through Joshua’s head when he landed a couple of shots that dazed Dubois in the fifth round?

Continuing on the train of thought, Joshua explained, “Yeah, I caught him with a good shot, I think. And then I tried to go for it. And then I got caught with an overhand right when I was throwing the uppercut.” And that was all she wrote as AJ was knocked out flat on the canvas with Dubois’ lethal punch.

Apart from his shoddy defense, Anthony Joshua also pointed out that he wasn’t “setting shots up” against Dubois properly, and the shots he did land weren’t “sniper-esque”. But, the damage was done in the final minutes of the first round itself after Joshua was knocked down by Dubois’ overhand. “When you’ve been hit a few times, it’s survival. I’m in survival mode,” Joshua confessed.

Nevertheless, the upset loss against Dubois wasn’t going to make the 34-year-old hang up his boxing gloves. When Bunce asked, “You are not finished are you?” Joshua replied earnestly, “Nah, nah, we are gladiators. We had a bad night at the office. People want to see me fight, I’ll fight. I’ll fight, that’s it. “

The defeat against Dubois pushes Anthony Joshua down the pecking order in the heavyweight division. So, what are the options available now for Joshua in his next fight?

Disappointed Eddie Hearn lays down Anthony Joshua’s future plans

AJ’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, was absolutely gutted by the loss. However, in the post-fight presser, the Matchroom Boxing head said that he was proud of Joshua for having the courage to go out on his shield even though he was badly hurt in the first round itself. That being said, Hearn also listed out the prospective opponents for Joshua’s upcoming fight, after dismissing speculations about his retirement.

“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.

Interestingly, Daniel Dubois and Anthony Joshua had agreed to a rematch clause before their fight, and therefore a sequel is really possible. Meanwhile, the AJ-Tyson Fury showdown has been in talks since AJ was the unified heavyweight champion but didn’t come to fruition for one reason or another. But, this highly anticipated all-British showdown still can take place if Fury loses against Oleksandr Usyk on December 21.

Who do you think would emerge victorious if Anthony Joshua fights Tyson Fury? Let us know in the comment section below.