LONDON — Daniel Dubois disrupted Anthony Joshua’s career after dropping his English rival with a right in the 5th round in the first defense of his IBF world heavyweight title.
Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) endured a nightmare as DuBois (22-2, 21 KOs) landed him four times in rounds 1, 3 and 4 before finishing savagely after 59 seconds.
Despite being champion, Dubois was upset to inflict a fourth professional defeat on three-time world heavyweight champion Joshua in front of 96,000 fans at Wembley Stadium, the largest post-fight boxing crowd in the United Kingdom. .
Joshua’s knockout form has been very high and he enters the fight on the back of a poor stoppage of Francis Nagano in March. But it was Dubois’ power and aggression that clinched Saturday’s result as he easily spun Joshua around the ring.
Dubois’ victory sets up a chance for him to fight for the undisputed world heavyweight title in 2025, when WBC, WBA and WBO champions Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury clash on Dec. 21 against the winner of the clash.
Usyk stopped Dubois in the 9th round in August of last year. Joshua must now look forward to a Dubois rematch, or fight against the loser on December 21 after another serious setback in his career.
“I fight for all the glory, to me I’m a hunter, I have to hunt,” DuBois said.
Who does he want next?
“Of all the best, maybe Usyk, a big shot at my redemption, but anybody can get it,” Dubois said.
“It’s been a journey and I’m grateful to be in this position. I’m a gladiator, I’m a warrior to the bitter end. I want to be at the top of this sport and reach my full potential.”
It was a crushing defeat for Joshua that cast doubt on his options and damaged his reputation indelibly. The pre-fight talk was Joshua vs. Fury, but this thrashing changes things after the 34-year-old bounced off the canvas and was dismantled in the 5th round.
“Before I came here, I always told myself I was a fighter for life,” Joshua said. “You roll the dice. I had a faster and sharper opponent and a lot of mistakes from my end.”
Dubois, who lives in Essex, put his career on the mend after losing to Usyk with stoppage wins over Jarell Miller and Filip Harkovic, but Joshua will be heavily favored to win a title again.
Joshua, who lives in North London, is used to big stadium fights compared to Dubois. He looked at ease in front of a large crowd after a cameo appearance by Liam Gallagher, who belted out some hit songs with the recently reunited Oasis.
DuBois began belting Joshua.
Dubois, elevated from interim to full world champion status after Usyk relinquished the IBF title in June, snuck up on the challenger early on.
Joshua opened with a composed but was dropped by a crooked right hand for his first count at the end of the first round. Joshua dropped the hands momentarily and invited DuBois to throw a right hand. Joshua gets up on shaky legs, but is saved by the bell.
Joshua was shaky in the second round as Dubois landed more shots. It wasn’t to be easy for Dubois, who was on the brink of victory in the 3rd round. Joshua misses with a right hand and is caught with a counter left hook. He staggered back and rolled on his ankle, landing more clubbing blows before Dubois left Joshua in a heap and took the count.
Bell came to Joshua’s rescue again, but the former champion’s legs betrayed him as he hit another count early in the 4th round. He was lucky not to get a second count in round 4, but was given no account when he went down.
Joshua, who reigned as champion from 2016 to 2019 and then from 2019 to 2021, punched his opponent in the 5th round when Dubois pummeled him. .
Joshua, who counted his previous three opponents within the distance, was left face down on the canvas and counted out by referee Marcus McDonnell as he tried to get up. It will be difficult for Joshua to recover from his worst defeat yet.
