Why did Joshua refuse his rematch clause v Dubois

He was never a pugilist specialist.

 

His Chin. Thats why.

 

he was terrified

 

Cause he knew he would lose again - no point of taking additional punishment.

 

He was scared of losing and getting humiliated again.
If he wanted it, it would have happened.
This is how stupid AJ Superior actually is. He sits there and says he's the A-side and does what he wants in boxing. In a sense it's true that due to the guaranteed profits he can make the fights he wants. Then the rematch doesn't happen. This means it's because of him.
He's basically incriminated himself as a coward fighter.
And his fans make excuses for him still.

Since when is it okay for a fighter of this fame and 'champion' status to walk away after a KO and 'get on with his career'. What? Lol. Who else would get away with that besides the most protected pet of the English?

Yes, the warriors of London yo. We beez warriors and hungry lions. War is going on in Eastern Europe, that's where the warriors are. The warriors of boxing are avoiding rematches because they might get KO'd and go home with a fortune before partying for months afterwards.
And to make this worse, here's some more troof. AJ could have won the rematch, it was not some guaranteed loss.

 

Because why let a bin man take out the trash twice?

 

I think it comes down to risk management and confidence building. They don't really know what state Joshua is in post Dubois.

Joshua is a guy who was deeply haunted by the Ruiz loss, which wasn't even half as bad and brutal as the Dubois loss. Combine that with him also taking two losses against Usyk, then taking a year out of the ring after Dubois with an injury aswell I believe, and then being in the crash afterwards, him taking this level of tuneup isn't that unusual.

Joshua in contrast with somebody like Fury, is always in shape but mentally all over the place in fights, very anxious and lacking in self belief sometimes. If they put him in against somebody like Makhmudov and he freezes it can end disastrously. Opponents who he can easily walk through seem to build his confidence and allow him to perform better in subsequent fights even if realistically they never stood any chance. KOing Helenius did more for his confidence than beating a fresher Franklin for example.

The Jake fight as much of a clown show as it was could serve as an easy confidence booster, and make him richer (even for the rich, being richer can never hurt) and also help improve his profile in America. He was never going to comeback against an opponent who really posed a threat to him. So he could either fight a knock over job with more legitimacy than Paul for much less money in what would still probably end up being an equally easy fight, or he could fight Paul for big money and a higher profile while getting some rounds in.

Same basically applies with the Verhoven fight, more money for a slightly tougher confidence builder. Also I think he might've intended one more following Verhoven, but I can't really remember for sure. The two tune up talk might have followed the Paul fight, not preceded it.

I don't agree with this method of building a fighter back up, and it can easily end up backfiring but I do see the thought process behind it.

 

Cause he would get KTFO again.

 

There are only so many times that a crossover star like AJ can lose before his stock drops dramatically. The first Ruiz fight took a huge chunk out of the idea that he was the top dog; he's then gone on to lose twice to Usyk in a very convincing fashion, but the fact that he avenged the Ruiz loss and went the distance with Usyk still gave him some star power.

The Dubois loss was one of the most one-sided heavyweight title fights of the last 25 years, and the exact same thing would have happened in the rematch; then the Fury-Joshua fight wouldn't even sell out the Manchester Arena. The Fury and Joshua era is over, the only people who don't seem to understand that are Eddie Hearn, Fury, AJ and Turki.

 

Because they know he’ll get splattered again. He wants gimmicks and soft touches until the Fury cashout.

 

I can understand that reasoning.

But let's not forget this isn't without costs. If you maximize for money and confidence, you lose the hard core fans - i.e. me.

I don't want to watch useless fights and see jake paul elevated to fighting a former top heavyweight only a few years after his reign and not get crushed in the first ten seconds, which he could have done. It is undignified and a ridiculous mark on boxing.

Joshua maximized for money, but he lost most of the credibility he built up for many years - at least to me.

The word 'Sell-out' comes to mind.

Joshua vs Paul was like the rolling stones playing covers of Britney Spears...

 

Hearn said straight after Dubois knocked Joshua out that there WAS a rematch clause and Joshua WOULD be enforcing it. But we all saw how it played out.

They didn't want any more of Dubois' smoke, still don't and unless something dramatic changes, won't ever.