Anthony Joshua’s agent, Eddie Hearn has admitted that he is yet to recover from his poor performance in the defeat to Daniel Dubois in September.

Joshua struggled to handle Dubois as he was dropped four times in the bout before the latter earned a fifth round knockout win.

Dubois retained his IBF heavyweight title as Joshua is left to rue his poor performances and to contemplate on his future plans.

Joshua defeated Francis Ngannou earlier in the year to spark talks of returning form after he suffered back to back losses. But the defeat to Dubois has raised question marks over his future.

Joshua’s producer, Eddie Hearn has opened up on how he is dealing with the aftermath of the defeat and his future plans.

He said, “It’s still quite fresh, only three weeks ago. He’s devastated by the defeat.

“Daniel’s had a great time in Brazil as the new champion, and it’s well deserved. There’s a period of time within AJ’s contract where he has to make a decision, and it’s not up yet, but he’s thinking hard. He’s resting his body and figuring out what he wants to do.

“When you start thinking about it, there’s no bad decision.

“He wants to win the world heavyweight title, and that could mean fighting Dubois again rather than facing Deontay Wilder or waiting for Tyson Fury. If it’s solely up to AJ, which it will be at the end of the day, I think it’s going to be hard to talk him out of taking the rematch.”

Dubois has held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) heavyweight title since June 2024.

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum says Anthony Joshua is an overrated fighter, following the Brit’s shock fifth-round knockout defeat to Daniel Dubois at Wembley.

Joshua, who was dropped four times en route to the loss, missed out on the IBF belt and saw his hopes of securing an undisputed fight diminish significantly.

The defeat has raised questions about Joshua’s future in the sport, although the former two-time unified heavyweight champion has confirmed he will not be retiring.

Arum, known for his outspokenness, was particularly critical of Joshua’s performance, saying, “I’ve never been high on Joshua, but I never thought he was a great fighter, particularly after the Andy Ruiz fight.

“Again, it didn’t surprise me. I think Joshua is very, very vulnerable.”

The veteran promoter’s comments were largely based on Joshua’s 2019 loss to Andy Ruiz Jr. at Madison Square Garden, where Joshua suffered his first professional defeat.

Despite Joshua’s subsequent rematch victory over Ruiz, Arum maintained that the initial loss exposed significant weaknesses in the British boxer’s arsenal.

Boxing legend Roy Jones Jr has advised Anthony Joshua to dump trainer Ben Davison following the Brit’s defeat to Daniel Dubois last month.

Heading into the clash with Dubois, Joshua was a huge favourite and had enjoyed a lot of recent success in the ring. However, ‘AJ’ struggled from the first bell. ‘Dynamite’ went on to drop the two-time heavyweight champion four times in total before securing a sensational knockout in the fifth round to retain his IBF title.

Despite such a one-sided main event, Joshua refused to walk away. “You’re probably asking if I still want to consider fighting. Of course I want to continue fighting,” said Joshua, who declined to take questions at the post-fight press conference. “We took a shot at success and we came up short. What does that mean now? That we’re going to run away? We’re going to live to fight another day. And that’s what I am – I’m a warrior.

“Always walk with your head high. We rolled the dice for the third time. There have been 13 world-title fights, not every one of them has been successful but every one has been fun and entertaining. There were a few mistakes in there but that’s the name of the game. Fine margins will cost you at the top level. Also before I finish, we have to give credit our opponent Daniel. When I sign up to fight opponents, I don’t really like them in my head any more. But now that it’s done, I take my hat off to him and say well done.”

Following his defeat at Wembley, Joshua has dropped to seventh in the heavyweight rankings. While fans are calling for Dubois to face the winner of Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury II, it would seem that a second showdown with ‘AJ’ appears more realistic. Frank Warren, Dubois promoter, has revealed that ‘Dynamite’s’ next fight will take place early next year and is very much open to the rematch between the two heavyweight giants with February 22 pencilled in for a fight card in Riyadh.

Amid talks of a potential rematch, Jones Jr believes Joshua needs to ditch Davison in favour of someone who has actual experience in the sport as he believes the famous coach doesn’t have the encyclopaedic knowledge of boxing because he is not a fighter. Speaking to talkSPORT boxing, he said: “It takes real boxing knowledge to prepare yourself and get better. If you don’t have someone with real IQ and boxing knowledge who has been there and done that, they can’t teach you anything. You need someone who can charter those seas when they get tough. I don’t think Ben Davison has been in enough fights. Ben has done a lot of coaching, but it’s hard when you haven’t been there yourself.”

Davison famously trained Tyson Fury ahead of his return to the ring in 2018 following a three-year hiatus from the sport. However, just months before the Brit’s rematch with Deontay Wilder, ‘The Gyspy King’ offloaded him in favour of SugarHill Steward.

Jones Jr added: Some guys get lucky, but it’s very difficult for a coach who hasn’t been there himself. I can’t tell you how to swim through the ocean if I’ve never swam through the ocean before. I’m sorry. It’s nothing against Ben Davison because he’s been good, but when you get in that deep water and you ain’t been in that deep water, that shark invested water, it’s hard for you to tell somebody what it’s like because you’ve never been there.”