Eddie Hearn believes that Anthony Joshua could still end up facing Tyson Fury in future despite his brutal defeat by Daniel Dubois.
The former two-time unified world heavyweight champion was emphatically denied a third reign at the top of boxing’s blue riband division on Saturday night, stunned in a major upset as he was knocked down four times en route to a devastating fifth-round knockout loss in front of a British record crowd of 96,000 at Wembley Stadium.
That comprehensive defeat - the fourth of his 32-fight professional career - brought a swift end to Joshua’s winning four-fight revival in the wake of his pair of losses to Oleksandr Usyk in 2021 and 2022, with more questions now sure to be asked of his future in the sport.
However, Joshua, who turns 35 next month, quickly confirmed after the fight that he would return to the ring in future, with promoter Hearn expecting him to exercise a clause entitling him to a rematch against Dubois.
Another ramification of the loss to Dubois appeared to be Joshua again missing the chance to finally move closer to a potential long-awaited meeting with Tyson Fury - who, alongside Usyk, was in attendance at Wembley - in one of the biggest and most lucrative fights in boxing history.
However, Hearn believes that showdown is still possible if Fury loses his rematch with Usyk in Riyadh on December 21, having lost his WBC world title in his first fight with the Ukrainian for undisputed status in May.
Dubois will be expected to face the winner of that contest in 2025 if a trilogy fight is not needed, with another loss for Fury potentially opening the door to take on Joshua at last.
“I don’t see it being a fight that ends his [Joshua’s] career,” Hearn told reporters at Wembley on Saturday night. “But as I said, he’s in the final chapter or chapters of the career.
“That was a big blow because we fancied winning tonight and fighting the winner of Fury against Usyk. We may end up fighting the loser of that fight, maybe if it’s Tyson Fury.
“You’ve got the Dubois rematch, you’ve got other fights out there. I think it’s really about returning to the gym and having time off and seeing how you come back with [trainer] Ben [Davison]. A lot depends on how you are performing in the gym.”
