The combat sports world was stunned last night as Anthony Joshua was knocked down four times before being finished in the fifth round by Daniel Dubois in front of a capacity crowd of some 96,000 people at Wembley Stadium.
Whilst there were immediate calls for the former world champion to call it quits after the dramatic defeat, there are those within the combat sports community who believe that Anthony Joshua’s career is far from over.
Conor McGregor tells Anthony Joshua not to retire after Dubois defeat.
UFC superstar Conor McGregor was sat ringside for the enormous boxing event at Wembley Stadium and speaking via The Stomping Ground YouTube channel, shared his immediate reaction to the most dramatic of knockouts.
“He came in with no pressure,” stated the former double champion on Daniel Dubois, arguing that a mixture of composure from ‘Dynamite’ and a lack of shot selection from AJ resulted in the ruthless fifth-round finish.
“Daniel Dubois had no pressure on his shoulders coming in here – very calm, very composed and it showed; he came out to go after it at the first bell. [Whereas] Joshua showed him the same shots over and over again; step back, back hand; or step back, back uppercut – he didn’t step to him and go forward.”
Given the nature of the stoppage loss, fans and pundits alike were quick to mention the dreaded ‘R’ word in relation to Anthony Joshua’s future, although the main man himself ruled out retirement in his post-fight interview.
“AJ is number one, this is his eighth stadium show here – he is a legend forever,” claimed Conor McGregor, before being asked whether there is any potential for another iconic comeback.
“Sure there is, sure there is; he had him. He smacked back, stood his ground and smacked him back and then he went forward and got caught… It’s only boxing, you can get caught or you catch someone, of course he can come back – for sure.”
As Conor McGregor was exiting the famous stadium, ‘Notorious’ was cornered by Boxing King Media, with the UFC fighter reaffirming that the knockout was a result of a combination of over-eagerness on the part of AJ, and the cool demeanor of Dubois.
“That was a great fight between two solid men, Joshua got clipped early but he stood his ground and tried to go back in for it, got a bit excited after he cracked him and got himself knocked out.
“I thought Dubois was awfully relaxed and all the pressure was on AJ, he performed like he had no pressure on his shoulders; he came forward, put the pressure on, landed a big shot in the very first round, and it’s a hard ask to come back from that.”