Joshua vs Dubois LIVE: Fight result and reaction after stunning knockout at Wembley

Anthony Joshua’s trainer has opened up on the gameplan which went so spectacularly wrong.

“We knew Dubois, he retreats when he jabs,” Ben Davison explained after the fight. “we tried to capitalise on that [but] for whatever reason, things didn’t get going in the early part of the fight. We just didn’t manage to get things going early.”

Joshua did find some rhythm in the fifth round and seemed to briefly have the upper hand, but Dubois responded with a barrage that killed off the fight.

“Then [there were] a couple of things we were trying to capitalise on at the end. A very short spell, landing that right hand, following up moments like that, but we didn’t apply the way we wanted to. By that point a lot has gone on, he’s not thinking straight.”

Tyson Fury defended Anthony Joshua after his humbling defeat.

Despite such a one-sided all-British showdown that lived up to explosive expectations, Fury – who has long been linked with a superfight against Joshua – defended the beaten boxer.

“It’s heavyweight boxing, s*** happens, you get knocked spark out,” Fury told FightHubTV after watching the fight ringside. “It could have been me. In the heavyweight division, it’s what happens.

“What went wrong is what always happens in heavyweight boxing. A good right hand on the end of the chin, and that was it.”

Asked whether Joshua would return to the ring, Fury said: “I don’t know. It’s up to the man and whatever he wants to do. If he has good ambitions to come back again, he can make his own decisions. He’s a big boy.

“I thought it was a 50-50 fight. Dubois is a lot younger. He’s 27-years-old. Joshua is 35, the same age as me [Joshua is 34, Fury is 36]. Age doesn’t wait for anybody. You get hit with those punches [and] you don’t see many heavyweights get hit, get knocked down, get back up, and continue on.”

Oleksandr Usyk pinpointed Anthony Joshua’s faulty footwork as the major reason for his stunning defeat by Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium.

“I’m not shocked because this is boxing. Daniel Dubois today was better,” Oleksandr Usyk told Boxing King Media, having watched on ringside. “Anthony had one problem. Because this position [leans back with feet planted], it’s dangerous. If you want to, you step back like this [takes one foot back], not like this [repeats lean] because this is dangerous. We saw.”

Anthony Joshua tumbled into the canvas during a devastating fifth round, his world turned upside down by Daniel Dubois’ effortless power, compounding a nightmare evening to leave him with a critical decision. The ramifications of this dramatic evening in London remain unknown, but Joshua’s future is more uncertain and compelling than ever before.

Yes, he’s been hurt and taken out before, by Andy Ruiz in another seismic shock in 2019; he was outclassed even, twice by Oleksandr Usyk. But never before has he been dominated within a few seconds of the first bell until a comprehensive and painful conclusion. His fourth career defeat, depriving him of a shot against Usyk to become undisputed champion and jeopardising a meeting with Tyson Fury, was dished out by another champion no less.

And that is worth emphasising, as so many scoffed and forgot about that significant status. The man with the belt walked first on the night. Dubois was elevated this summer without a punch thrown in anger inside the ring, yet he seized the moment here to validate that position, defending his IBF heavyweight title over five lopsided rounds before delivering one of the most crushing counters in the heavyweight division’s history.

Jack Rathborn’s report from Wembley:

Hearn backed Joshua to continue fighting, drawing confidence from the way he wobbled Dubois with successive right hands in an action-packed fifth round.

“Everyone is very fickle, aren’t they? Yesterday he was in the form of his life, has never looked better - wow, this is unbelievable this new resurgence,” Hearn said.

“He has a bad start, gets dropped, tries to recover his feet and just goes to war with no legs. And finds a way back into the fight and walks on to one.

“It’s heavyweight boxing and that was the danger of this fight. It was a thriller and we just felt the tide was about to change, but you have to give Daniel credit.”

Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn said he expected to exercise a rematch clause.

“It’s a dangerous fight because he’s growing in confidence all the time but he’ll believe he can beat him,” he said.

“Credit to him and his team. We rolled the dice of success, but we came up short,” said Joshua after his 13th world heavyweight title fight left him with a record of four defeats from 32 bouts.

He had first won the IBF belt in 2016 from Charles Martin at London’s O2 Arena. Joshua then lost it to Andy Ruiz in 2019 but won it back later that year. Usyk then took it from him in 2021.

“We keep rolling the dice. I had a sharp opponent, a fast opponent and a lot of mistakes from my end, but that’s the game.”

Organisers said a British post-World War Two record of 96,000 spectators attended the Saudi-funded fight at London’s Wembley Stadium.

Among them were Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher, singing three songs on his 52nd birthday ahead of a reunion next year, and Ukraine’s WBC, WBA and WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk.

Usyk has beaten both Joshua and Dubois already and will fight Britain’s Tyson Fury, also present, in a rematch in Saudi Arabia in December.

Joshua might have hoped to have a crack at the winner of that fight but instead faces an uncertain future with Dubois sending a seismic ripple through the familiar heavyweight landscape.

Dubois said he hoped for another shot at Usyk, who beat him in nine rounds in Wroclaw, Poland, last year.

Usyk previously held the IBF belt but vacated it for the Fury rematch, with Dubois the interim holder and upgraded to world champion in June.

“I’ve only got a few words to say: Are you not entertained?,” declared Dubois after the biggest win, and first at Wembley, of a 24-fight career with two defeats.

“I’m a gladiator, I’m a warrior to the bitter end. I want to get to the top level of this game and reach my full potential.

“I’ve been on a rollercoaster ride. This is my time, this is my redemption story, and I’m not going to stop until I reach my full potential.”

Daniel Dubois destroyed Anthony Joshua’s dream of becoming a three times heavyweight world champion with a fifth-round knockout to retain his IBF belt at a packed Wembley Stadium on Saturday.

Dubois dropped his compatriot to the canvas in the opening round with a stinging right, the referee delivering a standing eight count, and the 27-year-old proceeded to tear up the pre-fight predictions as swiftly as he ripped into his opponent.

Joshua, 34, took another hammering in round two but managed to ride out the storm before round three came crashing down around him again.

With Dubois landing more fizzing right-handers, Joshua was literally on the ropes before being saved by the bell.

He could barely stand at the end of the fourth, after going down again with two minutes remaining, and then it was all over in the fifth with the painstaking rebuilding of his career suddenly in ruins.

After landing a few promising blows, any signs of a fightback faded with a right to the chin that sent Joshua down, the former IBF, WBA and IBO champion this time unable to get back on his feet.