Anthony Joshua was stunned by Daniel Dubois this past weekend at Wembley Stadium, fighting bravely but being well beaten and stopped inside five rounds.
Whilst it’s important not to take away from the 27-year-old’s showing, most feel Joshua performed well below par. That includes Derek Chisora, who told Seconds Out ‘he froze.’
“There’s no two ways about it, he froze. Look at the fight. He was chucking like he didn’t want to hit Daniel. He froze from the moment the bell went. I think he froze from the moment he walked out his dressing room … Mate, he came out, walked in the ring and he stood in one position. He didn’t feel the canvas around the ring, walk around, things like that. Things he normally does he didn’t do. He came in and went in one corner, that was it. You have to look at people’s way, how they do stuff.”
Despite it all, Chisora says ‘AJ’ can make the correct adjustments and confidently backs him to win a rematch should it take place.
“The best thing is the rematch … I believe he wins in the rematch. He has to change his ways. He wins in the rematch. He’ll go back and look at it and say this is what I did wrong, this is what I’m gonna fix and he’ll fix it. That is it. It’s just one of those things.”
Post-fight, promoter Eddie Hearn has said that the rematch is an option and he knows Joshua, with his fighter’s mindset, will want to pursue it. Dubois has also shown interest, saying he can do an even better job second time around.
