Daniel Dubois knocked Out Anthony Joshua in the fifth round, to retain his world title in their 12th round scheduled IBF heavyweight World Title fight in Wembley on Saturday Night, Sports 247 reports.
In a largely one sided dominated by Dubois, Anthony hurt several times in the fight before the champion landed a right to the chin of Joshua and knocked down Joshua four times before finishing him off in the fifth round.
Dubois will now get a shot against the winner of the Dec. 21 fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury.
Immediately after the fight, the boxing world have been reacting to the defeat of Anthony Joshua and the comfortable victory of Daniel Dubois.
Former Boxer Tony Bellew said it’s a career defining for Joshua as it may be difficult for him to start the rebuild once again.
‘A career defining fight’
Former boxer Tony Bellew told DAZN it was a “a career defining fight” for Joshua and said 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”
“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.”Bellew said.
For Eddie Hearn, Anthony Joshua’s Promoter, Joshua gave his all despite the poor night,
“I’m so proud of him ‘because 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.”
He went further to give Dubois his credit after the night’s wonderful performance.
“He deserves credit now as a real world champion, because that was a great performance.” Hearn said.
Anthony Joshua rule out retirement, and wants to keep rolling the dice, he spoke after the defeat.
“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 be 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.”
For Daniel Dubois and his team, this is the time to get busy as Dubois vows to hit his potential, going to be the top
Daniel Dubois: “I want to go to the top level of this game and reach my full potential. Behind the scenes, I’ve been working hard, with all my family and my team. They’ve all helped me, I’m not going to stop until I reach my full potential.”
Then Dubois went ahead to call out Usyk with his last word in the ring when asked which opponent he’d like next, he replied: “Maybe Usyk.”
“[It would be] a big shot at my redemption,” he added, referring to his loss to Usyk in August 2023, which he contested believing he was cheated in that fight after he dropped Usyk but it was regarded as a foul shot below the belt.
His promoter, Frank Warren, never ruled another Usyk fight but the outcome of the Usyk/Fury matters
“We’re going to sit down and think about it and we will have to see what the outcome is in the December 21 fight [between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury] … And he can improve. There is more to come from him.”
A big upset and an amazing performance from Dubois. He had Joshua shaken from the very first bell and sustained the momentum all through the fight, recording four knocked down before knocking out Joshua in the fifth round in a deviating fashion in Wembley as the 96,000 crowd, were entertained.
