Figure I might as well put all my thoughts in one thread. 1) Congrats Double-D! When we was a hype job, I though he was one of the stiffest, clumsiest guys I ever saw. When Joyce beat him, and people were saying, "he's young, he could come back..." I was quick to jump in and say that there was no reason to think he would. Now he is IBF champ, and #2 in the world. And I am glad for him. I am happy to feel stupid, here. 2) No Usyk-Joshua III! Hooray! 3) I do think that FOR THE MOMENT, Usyk's resume takes a slight hit, even thought he beat Dubois too, because Usyk needs great fighters on his resume, and Joshua lost a little tonight by not climbing. 4) Nonetheless, Joshua's legacy is real, even if he retires after tonight. Wins over Klitschko, Povetkin, Parker, Ruiz, Whyte, Wallin, Breazele, Pulev, Helenius and Martin make a place in history in the third-tier of greats, along with names like Walcott and Bowe, regardless of what comes next. 5) And who knows...maybe Dubois will keep climbing, and buoy Usyk with him. 6) Not only is Fury-Joshua now a possibility, but Wilder-Joshua suddenly seems back in play. 7) Usyk said that he was only interested in Fury and Joshua, so maybe he reties after December. Then again, the month before that, he said everything was in play, including more fights, exhibitions, WWE, movies, bare-knuckle, MMA....the month before that he said he was going back to cruiser and fighting three more yeas, so who knows that this really means?
Now looking like it’s a sure thing that Fury retires after Usyk 2, the career of Hrgovic also could likely get back on track if he actually puts himself into proper condition, as Dubois isn’t just hype anymore.
Whilst the Joshua win takes a hit the Dubois win looks alot better so there's that. As for Joshua vs Usyk 3 yeah in a way Dubois done the fans a favour by making that fight not possible now. Unless Usyk is willing to fight Parker, Zhang, Kabayel, he should just retire after Fury fight if he wins of course. Although I wouldn't mind Usyk vs Dubois 2 just because some fans feel there is a little bit unfinished business there with the low blow which some fans think was controversial.
Usyk is virtually certain to retire after the Fury rematch regardless of if he wins or loses, seeing as he's already beaten Fury/Dubois/Joshua. Zhang/Hrgovic/Parker/Kabayel/Wilder would still be interesting fights but from Usyk's perspective, he doesn't have a reason to fight on, seeing as he's not that motivated by money, and his legacy is already secure as an ATG. As for Fury, it depends on if he wins or loses. If he wins, he would likely face Dubois for undisputed. If he loses, Turki could still put Fury-Joshua together in a big money all-British fight. No titles on the line, but casuals would still pay to see the fight, and both Fury and AJ love money so it makes business sense. As for Joshua, I think this time it really is over for him. He'll wait and see what Fury does. I think it's likely he'll cash out, and face either Fury or Wilder about 7 years too late for one last big payday before he retires.