Former champion backs Anthony Joshua to return after heavy defeat

JOSEPH PARKER says Anthony Joshua can come back despite suffering a devastating loss at Wembley Stadium.

In front of a record Wembley crowd of 96,000 Daniel Dubois proved his doubters wrong by battering Joshua and knocking him out in five rounds.

Parker, a former WBO heavyweight champion, lost his belt to Joshua by unanimous decision in Cardiff over six years ago but has won five fights in a row – including points wins against Zhilei Zhang and Deontay Wilder – to restore his status as a genuine contender.

Boxing News caught up with the 32-year-old after Saturday night’s main event to get his reaction to the fight.

“It was relentless with the pressure he [Dubois] put on Joshua,” Parker said. “You can see the confidence in the way that he was moving, the way he was throwing his punches and he just showed true belief in himself.”

Joshua was dropped three times before the finish in round five and Parker believes ‘AJ’ never fully recovered from the first knockdown in the opening round.

“I feel like after the first round every time AJ recovered Dubois would catch him again,” he said. “I felt like he never really had his legs under him after the first two rounds and he showed a lot of heart to get up and continue fighting.”

Asked about a potential rematch Parker instead gave with his thoughts on whether the 2012 Olympic Gold medallist could bounce back after a fourth loss in five years.

“He’s still a massive draw. Just because he lost this fight doesn’t mean he’s done. He was a two-time world champion. And like MMA it doesn’t really matter about the loss. Relax and rest and come back.”