Daniel Dubois and Anthony Joshua may well fight each other again next, but if they do it will likely see a change of venue.
Dubois stunned the boxing world by flooring AJ four times and brutally KOing him at Wembley Stadium last month.
Dubois dominated and KO’d Joshua, to the surprise of many in the boxing worldGetty
As part of his contract with the Saudi organised who staged the fight, Joshua can now push to make an immediate second fight next year.
Giving an update on the situation, his promoter Eddie Hearn told FightHub: “So the big decision now really is – do we take the rematch?
“There’s a keenness from His Excellency to make that rematch in February, it’s part of our options within our contract.
“I think AJ will always lean towards the rematch. You saw him rematch Andy Ruiz straight away, you saw him rematch Oleksandr Usyk straight away.
“For me the other carrot that may dangle is obviously waiting for the Fury vs Usyk fight on December 21.
“But he said something the other day, ‘What happens if one of them gets injured?’
“I mean that could well happen. All of a sudden that fight’s kicked back to April. And even if it happens on December 21, the winner or loser of that fight is not gonna fight until next June, July or August.
“You’re gonna be out of the ring for nearly a year, and I’m not sure coming off the back of that kind of defeat you want to be out the gym for too long.
“And also he knows that if he does rematch Dubois he has a straight shot at a world heavyweight title. And that’s a huge carrot for Anthony Joshua.
“So if it was up to AJ – straight rematch. But he will take the advice of me and 258 and Ben Davison and everybody, and then he’ll make the decision.
AJ has vowed to fight on and may well seek the immediate rematch with DuboisMark Robinson / Matchroom Boxing
“But it’ll be a decision that probably comes in the next couple of weeks.”
If the rematch does happen though, it likely won’t be back at Wembley.
“I think it would be part of Riyadh Season in Riyadh,” Hearn said.
“Riyadh Season runs from October to end of February or early March. So anything within that period takes place in in Riyadh.
“So yeah, it would be a part of Riyadh Season if it was to happen.”
Regarding whether Joshua will look to change trainers again and split from Ben Davison, Hearn concluded: “He’s happy. He has to make the changes himself.
“There was a clear plan of what to do, but he didn’t do it.
“And you have to give credit to Daniel Dubois as well.
“I don’t think it’s just, ‘Oh, AJ didn’t box well.’ Dubois did really well and and hats off to him.
“But he’s happy with his training camp, he was in great condition, he was sparring really well.
“So in my opinion there won’t be any changes, he’s got to put it right and he can do that himself.”
