Eddie Hearn has claimed Anthony Joshua enjoyed his fight with Daniel Dubois – despite being floored four times in a one-sided hammering.
The Matchroom promoter made the claim after speaking to the former world heavyweight champion on Monday. Joshua, 34, was knocked out by IBF champion Dubois in front of more than 90,000 fans at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night.
It was a bruising defeat which leaves his career on the rocks following a fourth career loss. But Hearn insists his man enjoyed it. “In a weird way, I think he quite enjoyed the fight,” Hearn told Boxing News. “He’s never really been in that situation before.
READ MORE: Anthony Joshua regrets two-word verdict on Dubois seconds before he’s knocked out
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“In the changing room, it’s my job to lift him up. But I was telling him, ‘Mate you had the worst start ever, don’t know what you were doing but how you were even in the fight going into the third round and how you went into the fourth round and got back into the fight in the fifth’. He got knocked out trying to win the fight. For me that is like the ultimate bravery.”
Hearn also insists Dubois, 27, should be given more credit for the win after overcoming earlier career defeats by Joe Joyce and Oleksandr Usyk to become a world champion and now beat Joshua on the biggest stage.
(Image: Getty Images)
“Daniel Dubois deserves a lot of credit as well. I don’t think he was disrespected as the champion, but he was the clear B-side in the fight and he came out as a star,” added Hearn.
“He’s a handful and he’s a good young man. And he’s come back from a lot as well. People have written AJ off in the past. We all wrote Daniel Dubois off, me included.
“He took some good shots and it was only when the fourth and fifth rounds came that I thought we could start breaking him down here. But because of the start it becomes so difficult without a clear head to apply the things he’s been working on. My dad messaged me to say, ‘Wow, he made so many basic errors’. And still could have won the fight. That’s a positive to take out of it.
(Image: Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
“I said to him, ‘You’ve got to be proud because you even found a way back into the fight’, because after the second round for me the fight is done, it’s over.
“People always question people’s heart, but even after 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.
“When you do that you can look at yourself in the mirror and say, ‘I might not have been good enough but I’ve tried my nuts off and gave everything’.”