Daniel Dubois surprises Anthony Joshua with massive knockout

For someone born just a few miles up the road in Watford, it should have been an experience of unadulterated joy. He clearly believed in his superiority over Dubois: the main attraction at Wembley for the first time since 2018, he did not exactly opt for subtlety in his choice of walk-on music. He strode out to The Godfather theme tune, he appeared in full “Sleep with the Fishes” mood, with the musical medley ending with War from Rocky IV. There was none of the theatrical firestorms that had accompanied his performance against Klitschko. This was purely business.

Dubois pursued his prey in a thunderous fight

However, Joshua was very worried from the start. Dubois was not intimidated by the high stakes and threw a sharp right overhand in the first minute that sent Joshua reeling. The older man came almost timidly as he tried to find some sort of rhythm, his hands dropped and his footwork leaden.

It always looked like it would be a thrilling fight, with only four of the two fighters' 49 victories going the distance. But it was Dubois who delivered a beating that Joshua had no answer for. The former two-time champion crumbled under the bombardment in the final seconds of the first round and was only stopped by the bell. He still hadn't recovered in the second round, with Dubois refusing to step back, stalking his prey in every corner of the ring and repeatedly getting the better of him with his jab.

The story, which some believed to be untrue, was that Joshua had been beaten up by Dubois in sparring before. This time, you could see exactly why, as Dubois threw a left hook in the third round and Joshua appeared to touch the ground with his glove. Although it was not considered a knockdown, Dubois kept up his attack mercilessly and didn't let up until Joshua was down again.

Frankly, it was remarkable that Joshua was still standing, considering how much he was suffering. Even with 96,000 fans at Wembley, the chants of “AJ” were fading as his supporters surrendered to the inevitable. The fourth round was a little closer, but the die was cast. Although Joshua didn't land his first clean blow of the fight until the fifth round, that left him open only to Dubois, who delivered the coup de grace, landing a brutal punch to the windpipe and another to the chin. There was to be no Lazarus-like comeback this time, and Joshua was counted out in despair.

Unlike after his second loss to Oleksandr Usyk, Joshua did not take the microphone or attempt to offer any flimsy justification for his defeat. He spoke quietly and briefly, aware that the future he had planned for himself had just been dramatically and irrevocably redrawn. Rarely, if ever, are falls from grace so brutal.

Dubois defeats Joshua after explosive fight: This is how it happened