‘Joshua hurting following Dubois loss’ – Hearn reveals

Eddie Hearn has revealed that Anthony Joshua is still reeling from his devastating knockout loss to Daniel Dubois in September at Wembley Stadium.

Speaking on talkSPORT, Hearn described the impact of the defeat, which saw Joshua dropped four times before the fight was stopped in the fifth round.

The loss marked the fourth of Joshua’s professional career and sparked widespread calls for the two-time unified heavyweight champion to retire.

Despite the criticism, Joshua affirmed his intention to continue fighting just days after the match, with Hearn reiterating that retirement was never on the table.

Appearing on talkSPORT’s White and Jordan show, Hearn dismissed any speculation about Joshua walking away from the sport, saying: “No, never, never.”

“One because physically he feels good and he’s looking good.

“But also because when you suffer a loss like that the decision is not, ‘Shall we retire?’ It’s now about, ‘How do we look when we come back?’”

That isn’t to say that Joshua didn’t battle his own demons though.

“Yeah, he is hurting. He took a pasting at times in that fight and I think he has got his back up and he wants to come back stronger.

“I don’t think it is ever easy. The reason this sport is so compelling is because you are on your own in there.

“When you are scrambling on the floor to get up and hang on for dear life, time and time again it is very humbling and probably very humiliating.

“He had to go through that experience. He never stopped trying, he never stopped trying to get up till the point where he couldn’t get up.

“I think he showed a lot of heart but he got well beaten and he needs to go back and work out why.”