Are you not entertained? Daniel Dubois started sharply, reeled off a series of knockdowns before a thunderous counter right-hand flattened two-time unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in their thrilling firefight – successfully defending the IBF world title in-front of a record 98,128 attendance at Wembley.
Dubois stuns Joshua and record Wembley crowd in style
- In historic headline Wembley bout, Dubois scored four knockdowns – first at end of round one, then another in rounds two, three and five – en route to massive win for 27-year-old, retaining IBF world heavyweight title
- Let’s go! “I want to put the wrong right,” Dubois says, insistent he wants the Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury 2 winner on Dec. 21 for undisputed status in 2025, wants revenge after contentious defeat by Ukrainian
- During brief post-fight press monologue, Joshua thanks fans then vows to return stronger for the experience and will not retire following fourth defeat, his most damaging yet. An 11-year pro, he turns 35 next month
R5, 0:59 – Dubois (c) bt. Joshua via KO, makes first defence of IBF world heavyweight title after Usyk vacated strap and he was elevated from interim
WEMBLEY STADIUM, LONDON — Daniel Dubois’ herky-jerky style foreshadowed a nightmare night’s work for the heavily-favoured challenger in Anthony Joshua, frequently pinged back with right hands and frenzied forward attacks aplenty.
Joshua’s attempts to find his footing, literally and figuratively, were expertly countered by a champion confident of producing an upset. By the definitive sequence, reminiscent of Zhilei Zhang vs. Joe Joyce 2 this time twelve months ago, Dubois finally found the exclamation mark this excellent performance deserved.
Saved by the bell before round one ended, Dubois dropped the 34-year-old with a big overhand right he didn’t see coming and referee Marcus McDonnell warning Dubois about leading with his head and forearms fell on deaf ears. Of course it would, having the startling levels of success he enjoyed in the early going.
That confidence grew as the fight wore on, Joshua’s unsteady legs didn’t settle but instead he teetered uncontrollably at times when Dubois closed the distance as his defensive stance was being picked apart and baffling body language was later too.
Dubois’ power caused all sorts of big reactions whenever he threw, let alone landed straight shots on Joshua across all angles. Appearing stiff and static, the jab pinged off Joshua’s head to finish round two and more haymakers landed flush a minute into round three as Joshua’s sloppy entries in the pocket were being punished.
Cuffing rights, left hooks and more forward pressure was a steady diet for Dubois to dine out on, Joshua naturally evasive but unconvincingly moving as his head coach Ben Davison stressed: we’ve got to be smart. After his best spell of the evening where he cracked Dubois with a right hand, the favourite got greedy and overextended an uppercut as the champion backed up, a counter right saw him crash to the canvas.
The referee’s count felt futile by this stage as the Joshua corner threw in the towel behind him, their charge desperately trying to climb once more, but instead a stunning victory means the heavyweight division has another seismic talking point.
They say there’s nothing quite like heavyweight boxing and nights like these emphasise why. Joshua got off to a disastrous start, was dropped three times in the first four rounds and despite being defensively open, felt he could still turn the tide.
That he even made it to round five still standing under his own power is testament to the former champion’s powers of recovery, a refusal to go away quietly even on an evening where it was quickly clear Dubois wouldn’t be denied a career-best victory.
It felt fitting that several of his former opponents were there in attendance, not least unified champion Oleksandr Usyk and former WBO interim titleholder Joe Joyce as they shared contrasting views: Usyk felt Joshua fell into self-inflicted defensive traps while Joyce was in audible disbelief when quizzed by BBC Radio 5 Live, buzzing to get back in the gym.
More post-fight analysis to follow shortly…
Sheeraz stops Denny inside two for card’s first stoppage
R2, 2:05 – Sheeraz bt. Denny via TKO, 21-0 (17 KOs) and is new EBU European middleweight champion, retains Commonwealth and WBC Silver titles
- Sheeraz’s in-ring interview: “Humble in victory, defeat and in life, I always leave it down to my team. Thanks to His Excellency, Spencer Brown, all the guys, they know what they’re doing and got me in for a reason.”
- On what’s next? “I’m tired of hunting for world title fights… whoever is put in the ring, it’s as simple as that, let’s go and have it whenever! I’ll go to LA for my camp and be here, it means everything [to be the co-feature], I just repeat everything they [his coaches] say, thank you to them.”
- Keep count! 25-year-old now has 15 consecutive stoppage wins, his last decision came in Dec. 2018 vs. durable journeyman Jordan Grannum
15 seconds in, Hamzah Sheeraz dropped Tyler Denny with a left jab and hook combination as the physical disrepancies between them were overwhelming to the naked eye. A round-and-a-half later, he was revelling in another stoppage victory after originally being slated to box a world-level opponent in this co-feature bout.
Whether that be Chris Eubank Jr or two of the three middleweight champions — WBC titleholder Carlos Adames and unified champion Janibek Alimkhanuly — nothing materialised. So you can excuse his fatigue at being asked what’s next, having dismantled Denny inside two rounds to seize the in-form fighter’s EBU title.
Too far away from the heavy favourite to land anything of note, Denny needed to gain some respect and rather quickly because he was being picked apart at distance.
Instead the ending was nigh and while referee Mark Bates could be criticised for a merciful stoppage after Denny just about beat the count a second time, more punishment like that with Denny stung at will wouldn’t have ended well. Who next?
Buatsi drops Hutchinson twice, puzzled by split decision win
112-113, 117-108, 115-110: Buatsi bt. Hutchinson, wins WBO interim light-heavyweight world title and improves to 19-0
Joshua Buatsi scored two knockdowns, one in the sixth and another two rounds later, en route to a SD12 win over Willy Hutchinson to win the WBO interim light-heavyweight world title with a long-awaited undisputed showdown between unbeaten champions Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol three weeks away now.
Just like was the case in his Craig Richards upset on June 1, Hutchinson began sharp in the opening round before Buatsi dug to the body and produced a better second-round as that punch selection foreshadowed his money shot on a puzzling evening where he will have rued lacking more composure in targeting a finish.
Roughing up the Scotsman, that energy continued into round three and the older man clearly wasn’t respecting the punch power coming back his way. The fourth was predictably messier, Buatsi’s work muddied by holding and headlocks as both had sporadic moments of success while jostling for control in a back-and-forth contest.
Trainer Shane McGuigan deemed the fourth a quiet one from Buatsi on BBC commentary, wanting him to be more active in an effort to discourage any Hutchinson rhythm. That age-old criticism has often been levelled at the Olympic bronze medallist, capable of brilliance and baffling moments of indifference too.
The fifth was better and needed to be, as Hutchinson’s confidence grew. Whatever was there, began to dissipate in the sixth as Buatsi dropped him – a left body shot the last of an unanswered series, teeing off on combinations begun with a right-hand.
Buatsi continued where he left off in the seventh, digging to the body and pressing intermittently before Hutchinson responded with an inspired flurry, started with a right hook through the guard, before getting overzealous and being deducted a point for reckless use of the head – and more – after referee Steve Gray told them to stop.
Buatsi ended that stanza with an overhand right as the pace had slowed, the Olympian holding his feet and attacking with intent as Hutchinson was increasingly hunged over, trying to absorb and counterpunch wherever the opportunity presented itself. After being hurt to the body early in the ninth, it did again.
He pinged straight punches off Buatsi’s head with the crowd noise swelling, seeing the underdog surge back defiantly before history repeated itself: another left body shot floored Hutchinson, head and body exposed as he shelled up again before the bell saved the spirited Scotsman and his corner encouraged him to empty the tank.
That he did, looking worse for wear and perhaps fortunate about Buatsi’s overeagerness to land the perfect shot, missing wildly as he fell onto the ropes.
Fighting through fatigue and landing some bruising work in the penultimate round, commentators questioned why Buatsi allowed proceedings to go this long after flirting with a finish multiple times. Hutchinson wasn’t going anywhere at this stage.
“It’s a business, it’s about entertainment,” McGuigan mused as round 12 began – Hutchinson aggressively swinging, aware he needed a stoppage to avoid a second career defeat. Tried as he might, Buatsi ate his best shots and shrugged them off.
Buatsi might’ve been comfortable with Hutchinson’s punch power but the optics, being hit clean often enough, did him no favours as evidenced by that remarkable scorecard in the underdog’s favour. Nonetheless, the 25-year-old can hold his head high after a spirited showing. From a box-office standpoint, the Croydon man wouldn’t have recruited many new fans but importantly passed yet another acid test.
Elsewhere on the card…
Josh Kelly’s puzzled face told the story as he heard the scorecards, though the Sunderland man had to withstand an inspired flurry late before outpointing short-notice opponent Ishmael Davis via majority decision (114-114, 115-113, 115-114).
Speaking of deceptive scorecards, IBO and IBF super-featherweight world champion Anthony Cacace didn’t have it all his own way but boxed well in the pocket and seized control through the middle rounds en route to a UD12 win over former two-time IBF featherweight titleholder Josh Warrington, who placed his gloves in the ring post-fight to suggest he’ll be retiring from the sport after three consecutive defeats.
In a tussle of two unbeaten lightweights, it was Turki Alalshikh’s favourite fighter Mark Chamberlain whose perfect record went up in flames to start the night with a stunning 10-round decision defeat by the unheralded Josh Padley, who dropped him in the eighth before having a point deducted a round later for excessive pushing.
Picture source: Mark Robinson / Matchroom Boxing, quotes sourced
Mo and Sports 