By Victor Kanayo
Nigerian-British born Anthony Joshua suffered a second heavyweight knockout defeat of his career on Saturday night as Daniel Dubois came out tops to retain his IBF world heavyweight title.
At the end of the much anticipated fight, Dubois knocked out Joshua in Round Five of the all-British heavyweight title fight at the Wembley Stadium, London.
The 27-year-old dominated the opening stages of the bout, dropping the two-time former unified heavyweight champion multiple times.
In a dramatic fifth round Dubois was momentarily stunned by two right hands and just as Joshua looked to pile on the pressure, the 34-year-old was caught by successive right hands himself and he was down again, this time unable to beat the count, AFP reports.
Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk became boxing’s first four-belt undisputed heavyweight champion in May when he beat Tyson Fury, simultaneously holding the IBF title along with the WBO, WBC and WBA.
Ahead of Saturday’s bout, Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn predicted Dubois might be quick out of the gate and he lived up to that expectation, landing his jab in the opening stages and forcing Joshua back on to the ropes.
The Ukrainian agreed to a rematch with Fury rather than facing mandatory IBF challenger Dubois.
Dubois won the interim IBF title in June and was elevated to world champion status when Usyk vacated the belt.
