Anthony Joshua’s rematch against Daniel Dubois in jeopardy after brutal fifth-round KO

Anthony Joshua’s hope of a rematch against Daniel Dubois is now in jeopardy two days after he was knocked out at Wembley. 

Dubois retained his IBF world heavyweight crown in front of 96,000 fans as he floored Joshua four times, knocking him out in the fifth round.

AJ’s promoter Eddie Hearn had disclosed that there is a rematch clause and that his fighter was likely to activate it in the aftermath of his Saturday defeat.

Hearn told DAZN: ‘I’m sure he’ll exercise that rematch clause, I think that’s a given. He’ll need a rest and it’s a dangerous fight. This guy’s growing in confidence all the time.

‘He’ll believe he can hurt Dubois. He’ll believe he can beat him, but full credit to Daniel Dubois, he deserves all the credit tonight. It was a great performance from Daniel.’

Joshua has previously had double-headers against Andy Ruiz Jr. and Oleksandr Usyk, getting his own back against the former after a shock defeat in 2019. 

However, Dubois’ promoter Frank Warren has rubbished claims of a rematch clause.

He told talkSPORT that Dubois does not have a guaranteed rematch clause in his contract, even though AJ apparently does. 

In any case, he said that his camp would be open to discussing a second fight between the boxers.