Tony Bellew has admitted he’s ‘gutted’ and ‘heartbroken’ after Anthony Joshua’s defeat to Daniel Dubois on Saturday night.
AJ had gone into the clash as the favourite to win, especially given the way he effortlessly dismantled Francis Ngannou back in March.
But the 34-year-old was stunned by Dubois, with the 27-year-old a class above as he claimed the biggest scalp of his career.
Bellew, speaking to Sky Sports, has backed Joshua to bounce back from one of the biggest defeats of his career.
Boxing news: Tony Bellew has admitted he’s ‘gutted’ and ‘heartbroken’ after Anthony Joshua’s defeat to Daniel Dubois on Saturday night
SKY
Yet the former boxing star also admitted he was ‘heartbroken’ and ‘gutted’ for Joshua, too.
“Daniel came in, he didn’t freeze,” he said.
“Joshua…he throws under fire. And it’s one of those styles, Daniel comes out of the traps and lets his hands go immediately.
“Joshua was looking to box and set traps and he got caught in the traps himself unfortunately tonight.
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“I’m sure he’ll be back but that’s a hard one, that’s a hard pill to swallow and a hard one to come back from.”
He added: “It’s a brutal finish, it’s a brutal, brutal finish.
“You’ve got to give full credit to Daniel Dubois. Not taking nothing away from him, that Anthony Joshua performance…
“I’m gutted, I’m heartbroken. I’ll never write him off, he’ll be back, it’s just sickening it really is.”
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Another man in attendance for the fight was Chris Eubank Jr.
The boxing star, who recently axed his father from his corner, has admitted he was left stunned by how the action unfolded.
And he also claimed he’d seen a different version of Dubois compared to the one that crashed to defeat against Oleksandr Usyk in their fight last year.
“I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t expecting it,” said Eubank Jr.
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Boxing news: Chris Eubank Jr was blown away by Daniel Dubois’ performance against Anthony Joshua
SKY
“I said before the fight the way that Dubois wins is to go in their like a badman with no respect.
“Don’t get caught up by Wembley, it’s 95,000 people, Sweet Caroline and all of that doesn’t mean anything. Go out there and take it.
“That was his best shot at winning and that’s exactly what he did.
“No respect, walked him down and ripped everything from him. Full credit to Dubois, I wasn’t expecting that, I didn’t know he had it in him.
Boxing news: Anthony Joshua was outclassed by Daniel Dubois in their epic bout at Wembley on Saturday night
REUTERS
“I didn’t see that when he fought Usyk, I haven’t seen that in him before.
“Something switched, very very impressed.”