Would anybody really be mad if Anthony Joshua packed his bags and walked away? Of course not. After two championship reigns, an Olympic gold medal, and a bunch of terrific fights, the 35-year-old has given more than enough to the sport.

And yet, he still has more to give.

Eddie Hearn has been by Joshua’s side from the beginning. He’s seen him at his happiest, like when he stopped Wladimir Klitschko in 2017. He also saw him at his lowest. That came in 2019 when Joshua was brutally stopped against late replacement opponent, Andy Ruiz Jr.

Unfortunately for Hearn, he’s in the midst of holding Joshua’s hand through another rough patch.

Following a four-fight win streak, Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) thought he was back on top of the world. Daniel Dubois, however, made an example out of him. The now-fallen champ was knocked down on several occasions and violently stopped in the fifth this past September. Once his job was done, Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) candidly offered some advice to Joshua, telling him that he should “buy an island” disappear, and retire.

Joshua, since then, has been out of sight and out of mind and hasn’t gotten the chance to respond. Hearn, in the meanwhile, has been busy putting fights together and traveling the world. When he had a second to pause and address Dubois’ comments, he took a deep breath. Although he didn’t want to put words in Joshua’s mouth, he did reveal that retirement is the furthest thing from the former unified champ's mind.

“AJ’s got no interest in buying an island,” said Hearn during an interview with TNT Sports Boxing. “He wants to fight, he wants to compete, he wants to go to war. When it’s time to buy an island, he’ll buy an island but it ain’t time yet.”