Daniel Dubois retained his IBF heavyweight championship and sent a message to the whole division with a fifth-round knockout win over Anthony Joshua at Wembley Stadium in London, England.
Dubois let it be known from the jump that he wasn't to be taken lightly. He came out aggressively in the first round, putting a jab in Joshua's face and following up with pressure.
Joshua did not have much to offer in return. A lackadaisical retreat to the ropes opened up an opportunity for Dubois to belt him with a looping right hand that scored a knockdown and stunned the massive Wembley crowd.
The Dubois domination carried through the opening round. The third round featured a wild moment where the champion forced the referee to rule a knockdown after initially missing that Joshua's gloves were down:
Dubois came into this bout as the champion, but he was also playing the role of underdog. Joshua is a two-time world champion who was on a four-fight win streak after back-to-back losses to Oleksandr Usyk.
Meanwhile, the 27-year-old was putting in his own work to bounce back from a loss to Usyk. Dubois got a crack at Usyk's titles in 2023 but was turned away with a ninth-round knockout loss.
Since then, he's bounced back with TKO wins over Jarell Miller and Filip Hrgovic before this monumental victory over Joshua.
For Dubois, it's been about reclaiming his spot among the elite in the division.
"I need to retain it and hold on to it. I need to legitimize myself by winning this fight," Dubois told James Regan of ESPN. "It's a resurrection story of my career. I just want the biggest challenges and make a name for myself and create history."
If Dubois is going to seek the biggest challenges then he's assuredly going to be paying attention when Usyk and Tyson Fury meet in December.
Fury and Usyk fought to a split decision in May. Usyk won to become the undisputed heavyweight championship before the IBF stripped him of the belt and awarded it to Dubois.
It's one thing for an organizing body to give someone a championship. It's another to beat a former two-time heavyweight champion to retain that belt. Dubois did a lot to legitimize himself as a true champion in the division on Saturday.
Bleacher Report
