Eddie Hearn has revealed he was “screaming” at Anthony Joshua before he was knocked out by Daniel Dubois.
Hearn was horrified to see AJ fall Four A powerful right hand in the fifth round ended the show.
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One round earlier, Joshua was dropped to the canvas again, and the fight was briefly stopped after a weak jab from Dubois.
AJ was given five minutes to recover from the illegal punch – which could have been crucial to recovering from the previous attack.
But Joshua immediately told the referee he was ready to fight – which Hearn described as a rookie mistake.
He said: “People talk about him taking a knee, spitting out the gumshield, listen, when Daniel Dubois hit him in the testicles in the third or fourth round, I was screaming at AJ to take the full five minutes.
“It’s a bit of inexperience really. At that point when he couldn’t stand up, he was hit full on in the concussions, that’s all he had to (say) to the referee but he’s not like that.
“He went to the referee and said, ‘I’m fine, come on, let’s go’. I said, ‘No, no, what are you doing?’.
“And then it happened again because he just came to fight tonight. A weakness perhaps when you talk about entertainment, but a tremendous puncher who is willing to leave his hands open.
“It was a huge fight, a huge fight, and we’re all very sad, but Daniel deserves all the credit because tonight was his winning night.
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“Despite not being promoted as interim champion, tonight he became the real world champion, I believe.”
Joshua, 34, said after his defeat that he would not retire.
He is still contracted for the Riyadh season and another fight with Saudi Arabian boxing supremo Turki Alalshikh.
And Hearn considered a rematch with the 27-year-old Dubois as an option.
But 36-year-old Tyson Fury, who will take on 37-year-old Oleksandr Usyk, is another option.
Fury lost his WBC belt and undefeated record to Usyk in May and the rematch will now take place on December 21st.
And Hearn has said a win or loss for Fury could pave the way for a fight with Joshua.
Deontay Wilder, 38, is another wildcard option, though the American has lost his last two fights.
