Daniel Dubois stuns Anthony Joshua with three knockouts, retains IBF title

Daniel Dubois stuns Anthony Joshua with three knockouts, retains IBF title

The bout between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois ended with a knockout for Joshua after he walked into a powerful right in the fifth round.

Daniel Dubois stunned two-times world champion Anthony Joshua with a fifth-round knockout to retain his IBF world heavyweight boxing title at a packed Wembley Stadium.

Dubois had Joshua sprawled on the canvas in the opening round and it was one-way traffic from then on, with Joshua down again in rounds three, when he was also kept up by the ropes, and four before the final knockout.

Dubois dominated Joshua from the opening bell, knocking him down early in the first round with a stinging overhand right and pouring on the pressure from there on. Joshua was on wobbly legs for much of the following rounds as he faced an onslaught from Dubois.

The referee should have given Joshua a standing count in the third round as his glove touched the canvas as he legs again looking to be failing with Dubois all over him.

Joshua could barely stand by the end of the fourth round, slipping and stumbling around the ring, but when he came out for the fifth, he came out swinging and forced Dubois back into the corner.

Joshua landed some big shots, but Dubois picked his moment – finding Joshua’s jaw with a crisp right hand that sent him to the canvas again and ended the fight.

When asked which opponent he’d like next, Dubois replied, “Maybe Usyk.”

“[It would be] a big shot at my redemption,” he added, referring to his loss to Usyk in August 2023.”

Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, paid tribute to his fighter for his heart and desire to keep fighting so hard after being rocked from the first round.

“I’m so proud of him ‘cos he never gave up. His legs were deceiving him and at the end of the fourth round, he hurt Daniel Dubois, and in the fifth round, he really hurt Daniel Dubois. And then he got greedy and walked straight onto a right hand.”

Hearn paid tribute to Dubois, who he said has often been doubted.

“He deserves credit now as a real world champion, because that was a great performance.”

He added that Joshua would likely trigger the re-match clause to fight Dubois again.

Former boxer Tony Bellew told DAZN that it was “a career-defining fight” for Joshua, adding that another rebuild would be hard and depends on how much Joshua wants it.

“He’s the kind of fighter you want to see – he either knocks you out or gets knocked out,” Bellew said.

“But [a rebuild is] going to take time again, his confidence is going to be shot after tonight. He’s going to need to come back slowly, take his time, and it will be interesting to see what the future holds for Anthony Joshua.”

Speaking on the fight Joshua said, “Credit to him and his team. We rolled the dice but we came up short,” Joshua said.

“I’m p***** [off with myself]. I’m ready to kick off in the ring. But I’m going to keep professional and pay respect to my opponent,” he said, dismissing any notions of retirement.

“I rolled the dice at success but came up short. But I will keep rolling the dice.”

When asked about what went wrong, Joshua said it was a mix of things.

“I had a sharp opponent but I also made a lot of mistakes. But that’s the game. It is what it is.”

.Al Jazeera