Dubois crushes Joshua with fifth round knockout to retain IBF heavyweight title

Britain's 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 (September 21). 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. 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.