Legendary boxing promoter Bob Arum has proposed another opponent for Anthony Joshua, but warned that at the highest level “this is the end for him” after an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Daniel Dubois.
The 34-year-old was punched to the floor three times before being knocked out in the fifth round at Wembley, handing Joshua the fourth defeat of his career after back-to-back defeats to Andy Ruiz Jr and Oleksandr Usyk.
Joshua was banned from boxing for 28 days after his stoppage defeat, which is standard practice in the sport, with much speculation over who the Briton might face next.
A blockbuster clash with Tyson Fury was likely to hinge on Dubois beating, with promoter Eddie Hearn claiming a rematch clause could be triggered to face Dubois a second time, although this idea has been rejected elsewhere.
Joshua has rejected suggestions he could retire from boxing, while Arum, 92, believes there is another Briton he could face after losing his long-awaited confrontation with Dubois.
Rejecting the notion that Joshua’s defeat was a one-time event for the two-time heavyweight champion, Arum said Fighting Hub TV: “You don’t have an evening off to be kicked out like this. I just think AJ has been through a lot of wars. I think it’s over for both him and (Deontay) Wilder. Maybe they could fight each other, that would be good.
Wilder has lost four of his last five fights, the last coming in June against Zhilei Zhang in Saudi Arabia, and has also lost to Joseph Parker and twice to Fury on either side of a victory over Robert Helenius.
His career is on the line, but most importantly, it’s not over yet. It wasn’t until December that he was promised a fight with Joshua if he defeated Parker.
He lost by unanimous decision and faced Zhang, who had defeated the former WBC heavyweight champion, but Arum believes a clash with Joshua would be very appropriate at this stage of their careers.
Matchroom Sport chairman Hearn did not rule out the possibility, despite the promoter insisting a rematch with Dubois was the “number one priority”.
“I told him (Joshua) yesterday: who knows, you have maybe one to three fights left,” Hearn said. Boxing news. “When I told him that, the phone went hushed, but it was the realization of where we were in his career. These will simply be the biggest fights possible.
“I don’t rule out Wilder or (Joe) Joyce, but I think AJ will want the biggest one. He is a warrior. His number one priority is a rematch with Daniel Dubois.”