Dubois vs. Joshua: Anthony Joshua vows to keep fighting despite defeat

Anthony Joshua said he will fight on after suffering a devastating knockout loss to IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois.

Joshua was on the defensive from the start and never recovered until Dubois secured the victory in five rounds.

Although his four-fight winning streak was abruptly ended, Joshua rejected the suggestion that he should hang up his gloves.

“Of course I want to keep fighting,” Joshua said at the post-fight press conference.

“We tried to succeed and failed. Should we run away now or live to fight another day? I am a warrior.”

Joshua tried to emulate legends Muhammad Ali, Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield and Vitali Klitschko and become a three-time heavyweight world champion.

Matchroom's Eddie Hearn, who promotes Joshua, asked the 34-year-old not to attend the press conference, but his fighter insisted he wanted to make a statement to the media.

Joshua, who had bruises under both eyes and on his neck, did not answer questions but made a statement.

“Always walk with your head held high,” he added.

“We risked everything. These are 13 world championship fights, not all of them were successful, but they were all fun and entertaining.”

“We want to make history for British boxing and I think we can do that.”

Almost 500,000 fans have seen Joshua perform in six British stadium fights and his contribution to the growth of British boxing is undeniable.

It was Joshua's first world championship fight since losing to Oleksandr Usyk for the WBA (Super), IBF and WBO belts in August 2022.