Daniel Dubois dominates and destroys former unified champion Anthony Joshua. What was a decent card in the build up to the main event became great. Dubois had a career best performance against his best opponent yet. Dubois absolutely stole the show and this will be a night to remember.
Joshua vs Dubois
From the very beginning in round 1 Dubois was on Joshua’s case. He stalked Joshua around the ring and started to land his signature jab. Dubois has a piston like jab and even early on it was giving AJ trouble. The round also saw Dubois score the 1st of many knock downs with a thudding right hook. It sent Joshua crashing down to the canvas. Joshua would make it to his feet but his legs were jelly for the rest of the round.
Round 2 and onwards AJ never seemed particularly recovered from the first knockdown. Every time Dubois would land a solid or good shot Joshua would be hurt. Dubois continued to pressure Joshua and land that ramrod jab. Dubois would hurt Joshua a couple times in this round however Joshua would manage to survive.
Round 3 things continued to get worse for Joshua. Dubois could not miss with the jab and was having more success with his hooks to the head and occasionally the body. Dubois would continue to wobble a shakey Joshua and would knock him down again with a great combo at the end of the round. Joshua survived the count but by this point the writing was on the wall.
Round 4 Dubois continued to capitalise on his success. Joshua got dropped early in this round and Dubois was able to do what he wanted. Had success in the clinch and managed to hurt Joshua again. However, in the flurry Dubois landed a low blown halting the contest. And Joshua saw the round out
Round 5 was the final round. This round actually saw success from Joshua who was finally able to land a big right hand and another one which wobbled Dubois. But, in chasing after Dubois Joshua left himself open both threw left hands Dubois landed first and slept Joshua.
The Future for Daniel Dubois
After this monumental achievement the sky is the limit for Dubois all the doors have opened to him. Dubois has put himself in prime position to get a shot at the winner of Usyk vs Fury 2. Despite having already losing comprehensively losing to Usyk before this new Dubois could stand a better chance against the all time great. And if Fury wins the rematch well then no-one would be opposed to Fury vs Dubois.
There are also many compelling match ups at the top of the division. There’s Bakole, Parker, Zhang etc all of which would be excellent. And given the run of form and this performance many would back Dubois against most of the division.
However, Eddie Hearn in a post-fight interview in the ring revealed there is an optional rematch clause for Joshua. Firstly there should have been no rematch clause and secondly a rematch is an awful idea. Joshua took an absolute beating off Dubois having no success and an immediate rematch could finish off Joshua’s career for good. If Joshua knows what’s good for him he won’t take a rematch and take time to recover.
For Daniel Dubois the future looks bright and he will be licking his lips at all the possibilities with his first defence of his IBF championship.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
