Anthony Joshua has all the tools to dust himself off and return to the summit of the heavyweight division, according to Conor McGregor.
Former two-time world champion Joshua fell short of adding Daniel Dubois’ IBF world title to his array of accolades on Saturday night in front of 96,000 fans at Wembley Stadium in London, falling to a dynamite short right hand from Dubois in the fifth.
In truth, Joshua never got going. In the early stages, the 2012 Olympic gold medallist had his hands unusually low and seemed to have a difficult time in establishing his opponent’s range before Dubois cracked him with a swinging right hand that landed square on Joshua’s chin.
From there, AJ was fighting a losing battle. His legs would not accept orders from his brain effectively, and he seemed in danger of going down every time Dubois launched an assault — and did so, several times.
In the fourth — and especially the fifth — Joshua showed signs of life, even appearing to stumble Dubois with a right hand in the fifth round before walking on to a short right hand when he attempted to close the distance and seize the initiative. This was the fight-ending shot, leaving Joshua unable to return to his feet despite his gallant efforts to do just that.
While the fight is a blow to Joshua’s aspiration of once more returning to the summit of the sport’s heavyweight fold, Conor McGregor says that the Watford man should maintain course and he will ultimately reap the rewards of his efforts.
“Daniel Dubois had no pressure on his shoulders coming in here,” McGregor told The Stomping Ground from ringside immediately following the fight. “Very calm, very composed. And it showed. He came out to go after it from the first bell.”
McGregor then turned his attention to the defeated Joshua: “AJ is number one. “This is his eighth stadium show. He’s a legend forever. For sure there is [a way back to the top].”
He added: “He had him, he smacked him back, he stood his ground but then went forward and got clocked. It’s only boxing. You get clocked, you catch someone. Of course he can come back. For sure.”
