ANTHONY JOSHUA wanted nothing more than to face Daniel Dubois on February 22.

The two-time heavyweight champion was heavily beaten by Dubois at Wembley Stadium in September and called for a rematch. Joshua was favoured to beat the 27-year-old and win the IBF title but found himself outgunned and knocked out in the fifth round.

Discussions with Joshua, his medical team, promoter Eddie Hearn, his management team and trainer Ben Davison reached a conclusion that ‘AJ’ didn’t want to hear.

“We had a very awkward call,” Hearn told Boxing News.

“He wanted to fight on February 22 and basically was told that there is no way you can start camp and be 100% for February 22, physically.”

“There’s nothing major,” he added. “There’s two or three issues that he had a little bit in camp but also after the fight as well. And they said you need to come back in May-June and he didn’t want to do it. He wanted to fight on February 22 but unfortunately we kind of had to overrule him on this and say no because we can’t afford not to get this right.

“If you get beaten again by Daniel Dubois you have to seriously consider your future. We got one last chapter in this career that we need to make sure we get 100% spot on. So when he comes back in May or June or whenever that’s gonna be you got to be physically mentally 100% ready. He wants to rematch Daniel so bad.”

Joshua and his team will now watch the Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury rematch on December 21 and whoever Dubois faces in Riyadh in February. The outcomes will play a major part in what Joshua does next.

“As much as it burns people AJ’s a pretty big name,” Hearn said. “He can walk into any fight he wants but we got to get it right. We can’t afford to lose again.

“I think every fighter would want to avenge the defeat. At the same time the Fury fight is the biggest fight in the sport but let’s see how it goes December 21.”