Anthony Joshua’s boxing future is in serious doubt after being eviscerated by Daniel Dubois in a fifth-round stoppage at Wembley.
Dubois retained his IBF heavyweight title in style after repeatedly dropping Joshua – including with a thundering right hand in the very first round to leave the former three-belt world champion reeling.
AJ was in trouble almost from the first bell, only kept up by the ropes as he staggered onto the ropes at the end of the third round. He hit the canvas twice more in the fourth – one dubiously ruled not to be a knockdown by the referee – but the gulf in stamina and power was apparent from the beginning.
The irony was that Joshua seriously hurt his opponent just moments before the knockout blow with two big hands in the fourth round and another decisive moment in the fifth, only to walk onto a short right hand that ended the night.
The first signs of Joshua’s downfall here were largely of his own making, misjudging the distance after he had overreached with a long attempt to rattle Dubois’s early doors. Dubois tried to finish the job quickly, piling on body shots and making a seven-year age gap count as he pursued his prey around the ring.
It should perhaps have been taken as an ominous sign that so much of the pre-fight build-up at a sold-out national stadium focused on Joshua’s legacy.
There can be no doubt about what he has done for the sport but a third defeat in seven bouts is the beginning of the end – victories over the likes of MMA star Francis Ngannou and veteran Robert Helenius did little to change that but the writing is now on the wall.
Joshua vowed to “keep rolling the dice” in the immediate aftermath, suggesting he would not retire in the ring afterward.
“It’s a huge right-hand AJ shift in the first round, and after that, he was just fighting on the heart”, said promoter Eddie Hearn, before hinting Joshua was likely to activate a rematch clause to face Dubois again.
“Very proud of Anthony Joshua – who never gave up… But full credit to Daniel Dubois. He deserves all the credit tonight.”