Britain’s Daniel Dubois won the IBF heavyweight title by knocking out fellow countryman Anthony Joshua in the fifth round on Saturday, September 21, at a packed Wembley Stadium in London. The 27-year-old Londoner thoroughly dominated two-time world champion “AJ” in a fight that set a new British attendance record with 96,000 spectators in attendance.
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It’s a triumph for Daniel “Dynamite” Dubois. More agile, mobile and powerful, the 27-year-old Briton knocked Anthony Joshua down several times, starting in the first round, before delivering a final fatal blow at the start of the fifth round. This is the 22nd career victory for the Greenwich native in south London, and the 21st by KO, against two defeats.
Saturday night’s fight looked like a passing of the baton between the 27-year-old puncher and his elder Joshua, 34, a two-time world champion who is trying to get back to the top of his game. Dubois had already made a strong impression in his previous fight against Filip Hrgovic for the interim IBF belt in June. The world title was then granted to him on a permanent basis when its holder Oleksandr Usyk forfeited it. But “Triple D” had said he wanted to ” become legitimate by winning this fight “.
He did it without a doubt, with an iron will displayed from the start and devastating blows, in front of the 96,000 spectators present at Wembley, a record attendance for a boxing match in post-war Britain. I am a gladiator, a warrior to the end “, the winner shouted to the crowd from the ring. I’ve been on a roller coaster, this is my time, this is my redemption story. I won’t stop until I reach my full potential ” he added.
Joshua, the comeback stopped
Constantly on the attack, Dubois sent Joshua to the ropes and to the canvas several times, notably in a third round where, already, the die seemed cast. During the fifth, Joshua destabilized his opponent with a well-placed right, but the latter immediately responded and delivered the final blow, an overpowering right to the chin. A good sport, the loser acknowledged on the microphone the superiority of his rival of the evening, at the same time as the ” errors » committed in the ring.
At 34, Joshua will have to overcome another big disappointment, he who was gradually getting back on his feet after three traumatic defeats. The native of Watford, north of London, had experienced a first shock by losing against the American-Mexican Andy Ruiz Jr. in 2019, before losing twice to the Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk in 2021 and 2022.
That last loss left him in tears and it took him some time to heal his morale. But before Saturday, he had become a punching and winning machine again in his previous four fights, including the last one against MMA star Francis Ngannou. He was aiming for a third world title in London to become the equal of legends like Muhammad Ali, Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield. Daniel Dubois can start dreaming of a fight against the winner of the ” rematch » pitting Oleksandr Usyk, unified world champion, against the British Tyson Fury, scheduled for December 21 in Riyadh.
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