Dubois confirms he wants a rematch with Joshua next
IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois wants to face Anthony Joshua in the boxing ring again,
‘Dynamite’ and ‘AJ’ faced off last month at Wembley Stadium in London, England. For Daniel Dubois, the fight was his first defence of IBF heavyweight gold, having won the title with a June knockout over Filip Hrgovic. Meanwhile, Anthony Joshua entered the ring fresh off his knockout victory over Francis Ngannou in March.
Despite the challenger entering the ring a heavy betting favourite, he was dominated early. Daniel Dubois knocked down Anthony Joshua repeatedly in the early rounds of the contest, but the ex-champion found new life in round five. ‘AJ’ hurt ‘Dynamite’ badly with a right hand early in the frame. However, Dubois quickly found his counter, knocking out Joshua with a short hook.
For Daniel Dubois, the knockout victory was validation that he was truly among the heavyweight division’s elite. Post-fight, Anthony Joshua called for a rematch with the IBF champion, but some speculated that he could fight someone else. ‘AJ’ had no contractual right to order a rematch with Dubois to begin with.
However, Daniel Dubois would love to face the British heavyweight again. Speaking in a recent interview with Seconds Out, the champion was asked about a potential rematch with Anthony Joshua. There, Dubois confirmed that the bout would be next and that he also enjoyed the first firefight with ‘AJ’.
“If he wants it, I want it too. I was the better man on the night but there’s no disrespect.” Daniel Dubois stated in the interview when asked about fighting Anthony Joshua again. “I’m not gonna badmouth him or anything, it was a great fight and if we can do it again it’ll be even bigger.”
He continued, “No one said it was gonna be easy. I had to slay the king so I had to come through whatever fire he was bringing at me. I love those sorts of match-ups where we’re just letting our hands go, back and forth, roll the dice, gun-slinging. It was really exciting for me to be honest.”
