British boxing Anthony Joshua has been suspended from the sport just a week after his disastrous fifth round knockout defeat to Daniel Dubois at Wembley
Anthony Joshua has been banned from boxing just days after his defeat to Daniel Dubois.
The two-time world heavyweight champions has been suspended from the sport for 28 days after being easily defeated by his British counterpart Dubois last weekend.
The 34-year-old Joshua hit the deck three times against Dubois before being knocked out in the fifth round of the action at Wembley. And now following his defeat to Dubois, Joshua has been hit by a 28 day suspension from boxing by the British Boxing Board of Control.
It is usual for a fighter to be handed a 28 day suspension if they suffer a stoppage defeat. Of course, with Joshua not set to fight during that window, it will not see the boxer impacted by the suspension. And it also looks unlikely Joshua will fight again this year.
His defeat to Dubois was the fourth of his career. Back in 2019, he lost a shock upset fight to Andy Ruiz Jr, before returning to the ring six months later to defeat him. The next two defeats of his career both came against Oleksandr Usyk, who beat Joshua in 2021 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and in 2022 during their rematch in Saudi Arabia.
Pundits and former fighters have all chimed in on what Joshua should do, with the likes of Carl Froch claiming he should look to hang up his gloves. However, boxing promoter Eddie Hearn still believes there in enough in the tank for Joshua to continue.
Speaking to iFL TV about Joshua’s potential fighting options moving forward, Hearn said: “If Fury was to lose maybe they [AJ and Fury] both say ‘Right, let’s give the public one last hurrah, two big fights, done’.
“Or, if Fury wins, he could defend against AJ for the unified world heavyweight title and AJ could beat him and become a three-time heavyweight champion. Anything’s possible. Or we could rematch Daniel Dubois.
“Or [he] could fight someone else. Deontay Wilder. I dunno, it’s not something that’s been discussed yet but two guys coming off defeats, big punchers, someone’s got to go from the sport. But for me the options are rematch Daniel Dubois or wait and see what happens in Fury against Usyk.”
