Dubois Stuns Joshua In Wembley Showdown

By: Gyang Dakwo

Daniel Dubois claimed the biggest scalp of his career with a stunning fifth-round knockout of Anthony Joshua in their all-British showdown at Wembley Stadium.

Dubois had called the fight his potential “resurrection story” as he looked to finally win a title fight.

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.

In August last year, he had Oleksandr Usyk rocking and worried on the canvas, but he failed to hold off the Ukrainian’s resurgence, and ended up losing via knockout.

That was the second defeat of his career, having lost previously to Joe Joyce, taking a knee as he could no longer stand the pain of a fractured eye socket, before assiduously rebuilding his career to eventually come up against Usyk in Poland.

Since then, he has claimed impressive wins against Jarrell Miller and Filip Hrgovic, going some way to erasing questions over his determination that had dogged him since the morale-sapping defeat to Joyce in 2020.

Joshua was looking to repeat a rare feat in the heavyweight division by becoming a three-time world champion, but he was also on his own comeback trail.

The 34-year-old had also tasted defeat against Usyk – twice – and after trialling several new coaching setups, he had alighted on Ben Davison as the man to take charge.

Now in his mid-thirties and after such a surprisingly comprehensive defeat, Joshua must now consider if he has the determination and sharpness to continue in a career where he has now been comprehensively outfought on four occasions. There is, though, a rematch clause that could yet be exercised.

For Dubois, attention will turn to Usyk vs. Fury 2. The prospect of an all-British undisputed clash in 2025 becomes hard to ignore even as he celebrates his finest triumph.