Anthony Joshua brutally told his career is ‘OVER’ as boxing promoter suggests final ‘good’ fight after Dubois KO

BOB ARUM has brutally told Anthony Joshua his boxing career is all-but “OVER” after defeat to Daniel Dubois.

AJ hit the canvas FOUR times on the way to his fifth-round knockout loss against Dubois in front of a British-record 98,000 fans.

Anthony Joshua following defeat to Daniel DuboisCredit: GettyJoshua has talked down retirement in the aftermath and is already being lined up for a rematch.

But Hall of Famer Arum – a promoter across seven decades – sees no way back for AJ other than a fight with Deontay Wilder.

He told FightHub: “No, you don’t have an off night getting the s*** kicked out of you that way.

“I just think AJ has been through a lot of wars. And I think it’s over for him as well as over for Wilder.

“Maybe they can fight each other, that’d be good.”

Wilder is coming off two defeats against Joseph Parker, 32, and Zhilei Zhang, 41.

The American, 38, has not officially hung up the gloves and his coach Malik Scott spoke out to talk down retirement.

Joshua, 34, meanwhile met with promoter Eddie Hearn and Saudi boxing supremo Turki Alalshikh just days after his loss to Dubois, 27.

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And Hearn revealed all parties are on board for a potential rematch – targeted for February.

He said talkSPORT: “Rematch clauses come in many different forms.

“We have a fight with Riyadh Season. One of our options is to fight Daniel Dubois again, and our contract is with them.

“His Excellency [Turki Alalshikh] will deal with Frank and Daniel and make that fight happen. The terms will have to be agreed with them.

“We have already agreed our terms, we have the option to rematch with Dubois.

“Our meetings with His Excellency, he wants the rematch. AJ will always want the rematch.

“Daniel wants the rematch too it’s the biggest fight for him and they will fancy it.

“It is a case of going away and talking about, do we go straight into the rematch? And when will it be?

“It was a heavy night at the office, we aren’t going back to fight in 10-12 weeks, he needs his rest and time to recover.”

Joshua suffered a devastating knockout defeat against DuboisCredit: Getty