Daniel Dubois knocks out Anthony Joshua on Saturday in the fifth round of their IBF heavyweight title bout at Wembley Stadium in London. (Photo by Bradley Collyer/PA Images via Getty Images)
Daniel Dubois fought the bout of his life to knock out British boxing star Anthony Joshua in the fifth round to defend his IBF heavyweight title at sold-out Wembley Stadium on Saturday.
Dubois came out aggressively and used his jab to control the distance and walk down Joshua. He dropped Joshua with a monster right hand at the end of the first, with Joshua barely surviving the round.
Joshua was still stunned to start the second and Dubois stayed aggressive, but Joshua seemed to recover by the end of the round.
But Dubois never slowed and proceeded to drop Joshua in the third, fourth and fifth and final round.
Joshua was actually landing his best shots of the night in the fifth when he got careless and Dubois walloped him with an overhand right. Joshua dropped to the canvas and referee Marcus McDonnell waved it off with 2:03 left in the round.
Joshua, 34, has now lost to Andy Ruiz, Oleksandr Usyk twice and now Dubois, and you have to wonder about his chin and just how much he has left as a championship contender. He had regained momentum after knocking out former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou in the second round in March, but Dubois, 27, proved his boxing mettle.
Dubois had his doubters after many believed he quit in a 2020 loss to Joe Joyce, but he stood up to the former champion and completely dominated him. After the bout, Eddie Hearn, Joshua's promoter, said he believed Joshua would exercise his rematch clause with Dubois.
With the heavyweight championship rematch between titleholder Usyk and Tyson Fury scheduled for Dec. 21, it make sense for the winner to perhaps face the winner of a possible rematch between Dubois and Joshua. Still there is a long way to go to get to that point and anything could happen in the world of boxing.
Joshua dropped to 28-4 (25 KOs) while Dubois improved to 22-2 (21 KOs) and answered any remaining questions about his fighting spirit and his ability to handle the pressure and immense energy at Wembley.
LIVE COVERAGE IS OVER38 updates
Uncrowned Staff
AJ landed big on Dubois but then took a monster shot. It is over in Round 5!
Dubois KOs AJ!!!
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This fight is crazy. Dubois's pace and power. Ninety-six thousand hanging conflicted on every punch. The knockdowns. AJ surviving. The referee's unpredictable behaviors! Conor standing and chomping his cigar in every key shot. Damn!
AJ taunts Dubois near the end of the round. No idea why. AJ is getting PUMMELED.
Dubois, 40-33
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AJ getting mauled. How long will this go on?
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Low blow warning for Dubois.
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What looked liked another AJ knockdown was waved off. Weird.
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Another Dubois knockdown in Round 4!
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Round 3
AJ has his best round until the end, when Dubois wallops him and knocks him down near the end of the round.
Dubois, 30-25
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Nightmare start for AJ.
Dubois up 20-17 after 2. AJ rocked very early in the first and knocked down at the end of the first. Feels like he hasn’t recovered. Legs aren’t there. DDD fighting the fight of his life. Wow.
Bud Crawford and Devin Haney are in attendance, as they were just shown on the broadcast.
Uncrowned Staff
And just like that, the Liam show is done. Apparently he was done a few years ago.
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Now the broadcast is showing a short film by Guy Ritchie. A bunch of boxers on this card are put in dire situations and appear dead — including Anthony Joshua — but come back to life to sing "Sweet Caroline."
Can't make this stuff up
Uncrowned Staff
"Cigarettes & Alcohol" is up next, and those are likely contributing reasons why Liam doesn't sound so great anymore.
It's been all cuts off Oasis' debut album "Definitely Maybe" so far, and we're definitely maybe not really enjoying this performance.
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Oleksandr Usyk receiving an enormous cheer from 96,000 at Wembley Stadium as he arrives at ringside for Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois… pic.twitter.com/FkNb3ITxaK
Here comes "Supersonic" from 1994. Liam doesn't seem the least bit interested in singing well. This is art.
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Wonder if this performance is perhaps giving Noel pause. Who we kidding? Nah.
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Liam has just been introduced and is opening with "Rock n Roll Star" as 50-year-old alt fans everywhere rejoice. He doesn't really sound great. At all.
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Liam Gallagher is in the building! (Whew
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Anthony Joshua-Daniel Dubois ring walk allegedly an hour away
If you believe the scheduling, the main event is an hour away, but these DAZN cards can be a little long.
We'll see how things turn out, but everyone seems legit excited about Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher's upcoming performance.
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