Lennox Lewis believes Anthony Joshua’s mentality will be key amid growing calls for the boxing star to retire following his defeat to Daniel Dubois on Saturday night.
Dubois was superior throughout the showdown and, after flooring his rival multiple times, clinched victory with a powerful knockout in the fifth round of the clash.
Joshua has since claimed he won’t be hanging up his gloves, despite the nightmare defeat.
He’s instead likely to face Dubois in a rematch, despite his fellow Briton seeming more keen to go up against Oleksandr Usyk for a second time following his defeat to the Ukrainian last year.
Anthony Joshua: Lennox Lewis believes boxing star’s mentality will be key to any retirement decision after his defeat to Daniel Dubois
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Lewis, speaking on TNT Sports, has provided his verdict on Joshua.
He feels it will be ‘hard’ for the boxing star to respond following arguably the biggest setback of his career so far.
And Lewis also expressed a belief that Joshua’s mentality will be key to his decision, too.
The 59-year-old said: “It’s really up to him mentally.
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“It was a bad defeat he was on the floor a lot of times.
“It’s hard to come back from that. He can work hard and look at what he did wrong.
“But [if] he’s got mental strength he can come back.”
Defeat is nothing new to Joshua. After all, he previously lost twice to Usyk – as well as infamously failing to beat Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019.
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But this one will hurt, make no mistake about it.
Speaking after his defeat, Joshua admitted he was ready to ‘kick off’. He kept his cool, however, and congratulated Dubois on his breathtaking triumph.
“Credit to him and his team. We rolled the dice of success, but we came up short,” he said.
“You know I’m ready to kick off in the ring, but I’m going to keep my cool, keep very professional, and give respect to my opponent.
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Anthony Joshua: Daniel Dubois stunned his fellow Briton in their seismic clash at Wembley on Saturday night
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“I’m always saying to myself I’m a fighter for life… We keep rolling the dice.
“I had a sharp opponent, a fast opponent and a lot of mistakes from my end, but that’s the game.”
Joshua’s trainer, Ben Davison, believes his fighter paid the price for a poor start to the clash.
“We knew Dubois, he retreats when he jabs,” he said.
Anthony Joshua: Daniel Dubois is a man soaring up in the world following his victory at Wembley Stadium
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“We tried to capitalise on that [but] for whatever reason, things didn’t get going in the early part of the fight.
“We just didn’t manage to get things going early.”