Maintaining his IBF world heavyweight championship, Daniel Dubois triumphed over Anthony Joshua in a fifth-round knock-out. Liam Gallagher, once a member of Oasis, raised the audience’s spirits first with a live three-song performance before the intense confrontation took off between the British contenders.
In the initial round, the scales tilted in favour of Dubois who showed his aggressive side, aiming for more impactful hits, and even received two reprimands for it. Yet, as the round was concluding, he launched a ferocious overhand right at Joshua who was sent to the floor. As he regained his footing, the bell rang in the nick of time.
The commotion carried on into the following round, with Joshua struggling to sustain himself and clinging onto the underdog, hoping to deliver the final blow. Despite the hasty attempts by Dubois to finish the fight early proving counterproductive in the second round, he managed to land a left hook in the third that sent Joshua tumbling down again.
As the bell signalled the third round’s end and the fourth round started, Joshua met the ground once again, though he disputed it as an improper fall. Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, watched aghast as his worst apprehensions were confirmed in the astoundingly eventful fifth round.
A pair of right-hand blows from Joshua momentarily dazed Dubois, who was then on the receiving end of a series of right-hand strikes that left him on the floor once more. This time, however, he was unable to rally and beat the count.