Anthony Joshua Offered Huge Heavyweight Fight If Daniel Dubois Rejects Rematch: “I’ll Sign Now
For many years, Anthony Joshua sat at the very top of the tree in the heavyweight division.
After winning his first world title by taking the IBF belt from Charles Martin, he continued to beat all comers including the likes of Joseph Parker and Wladimir Klitschko on his way to becoming the unified champion.
A first hiccup came in June 2019 when he was upset by late stand in Andy Ruiz Jr on his US debut at Madison Square Garden, but ‘AJ’ avenged that loss with a clear points win in Saudi Arabia in December of the same year.
Following a win over Kubrat Pulev, the two-time world champion then went into back-to-back fights with Oleksandr Usyk in 2021 and 2022. He lost his belts in the first one after 12 hard-fought rounds and failed to win them back in the rematch. Usyk has since gone on to become undisputed champion after beating Tyson Fury in May.
READ MORE:Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois sell out Wembley Stadium for all-British world title clash
Last time out in September, Joshua was knocked down multiple times in his attempt to become a three-time champion, ending in a fifth-round stoppage loss to the IBF champion Daniel Dubois.
He is thought to want a rematch as a way back in to the world title picture but has now been called out by Zhilei Zhang, who told Boxing news he is ready to go and avenge the loss he suffered to Joshua in the 2012 Olympics.
“Eddie is calling the shots right now. Let’s say Eddie sends me the contract tomorrow, I’ll sign it tomorrow. I’m very interested, I want to get that London Olympic loss back.”
Zhang has recently stopped the likes of Deontay Wilder and Joe Joyce but fallen short to Parker over the distance. He is keen on avenging that loss, but would likely skip it for a long-awaited shot at Joshua – perhaps finally getting his wish of a fight at Beijing’s National Stadium, The Bird’s Nest.
Whether or not the Brit’s team feel the Chinese southpaw is worth the risk over a Dubois rematch for the title at this stage of his career remains to be seen.
