Eddie Hearn has criticised Anthony Joshua‘s ‘inexperience’ for not temporarily stopping the fight with Daniel Dubois following a low blow in the fourth round from his opponent.
Dubois produced a sensational performance to demolish Joshua over five rounds in front of 96,000 fans at Wembley Stadium to retain the IBF heavyweight world title. The 27-year-old knocked AJ down in three of the first four rounds, before delivering a vicious right counter in the fifth to leave the former heavyweight world champion crumpled in a heap on the canvas.
It was a dominant display from the opening bell by Dubois, who cemented himself as one of the best heavyweights in the world on the biggest night of his career. But following the fight, promoter Hearn was critical of Joshua’s decision to not temporarily stop the fight after he got caught by a low blow in the fourth round.
Daniel Dubois’ Low Blow vs Anthony Joshua
AJ didn’t stop the fight, even though rules state he could’ve
With just over 90 seconds left in the round, referee Marcus McDonnell immediately stopped the fight to issue a warning to Dubois over his illegal punch. At this point, Joshua could’ve protested the punch to temporarily stop the fight, as boxing rules allow fighters to take up to five minutes to recover from a low blow. But, with AJ not offering any sort of protest, McDonnell quickly restarted the fight, and Dubois resumed dismantling his opponent.
Hearn thinks that ‘inexperience’ cost Joshua in that moment, but believes that his decision not to temporarily stop the fight showed ‘heart’.
Eddie Hearn’s Reaction Post-Fight to the Low Blow
The promoter was actually critical of his fighter for his reaction
“People always question people’s heart, even the last knockout he’s scrambling to get up, he couldn’t have tried another inch, and that’s all you can give to people,” argued Hearn.
“I think when you do that you can look yourself in the mirror and say, ‘I might not have been good enough tonight, but I’ve tried my nuts off, and I gave everything.’
“I spoke to him last night, and he said, ‘I’m ready to go into the trenches tomorrow night.’ He went all the way in the trenches.
“People talk about him taking the knee, spitting a gum shield out, listen, when Daniel Dubois hit him in the nuts in the third or fourth round, I’m screaming at AJ to take the full five minutes. That’s actually a little bit of inexperience [from Joshua]. At that point when he couldn’t stand up, he’s been hit full-blown in the conkers, all he’s got to do to the ref is [say] but that’s not him. He just went to the ref, ‘I’m fine, come on, let’s go.’ I’m like, ‘no, no, what are you doing?’ And then it happened again because he just came to fight tonight.
“When you talk about entertainment, maybe vulnerability, but also a huge puncher who’s prepared to let his hands go.
“It was a hell of a fight, a hell of a fight, and as gutted as we are, Daniel deserves a lot of credit because tonight was his crowning night. Not being elevated to interim champion, tonight was the night I believe he became a real world champion.’