Daniel Dubois and Anthony Joshua who are both professional British boxers after trash talking and making waves all over social media had the ring to themselves on Saturday night and the unexpected by many spectators and analysts is what we are going to give you an insight on.
Anthony Joshua who came into the limelight after defeating long reigning heavy weight champion Wladimir Klitschko the Ukrainian professional boxer who held the world heavyweight championship twice including the unified WBA, IBF, WBO, IBO, and Ring magazine titles.
His victory made netizens and supporters believe Anthony Joshua was the real deal after ditching many fights against American professional boxer Deontay Wilder. Joshua after accepting to fight Andy Ruiz amid speculations of his not wanting to fight the Bronze Bomber was one of the rules of the game. Ruiz in their first fight handed Joshua a whooping that got many wondering whether his win against Klitschko was due to the Ukrainians age. He can back better in their re-match to redeem himself but was not still convinced.
There came the myth, Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Usyk who many believed was just being favoured in a way or the other but he proved too have an antidote to both power and pace after defeating not just Daniel Dubois but Anthony Joshua and the Gypsy King Tyson Fury on their main event and their re-matches.
He made the world come to believe he understands the art after winning the Unification and in style. After the Ukrainian Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Usyk vacated the IBF World Heavyweight title, the vacant title was up for grabs and Daniel Dubois had to face Jarrel Miller at the Kingdom Arena before taking a title shot against Filip Hrgovic at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh where he won by TKO after the doctors in Hrgovic’s corner halted the fight due to deep cuts above both eyes.
Dubois who many didn’t see as the darling boy now had to defend his title against Joshua who had been loud on social media about how he was going to destroy Dubois while his defender only added he will show what he is made of.
The antics surrounding this Dubois vs Joshua fight made many call in for a Joshua KO while technical boxing lovers argues the defender could surprise the world. Dubois like every champion started the round fiercely giving Joshua no room to gather his thoughts. His determination and persistence saw him dropping AJ in the late seconds of round one.
The jaw dropping performance continued through round two where he gave Joshua no breathing space, with punches flying in from all angles. It got serious in the third round when DD landed a punch that wobbled AJ’s toes. Dubois did not stop there as he rushed on to inflict more pain and agony. AJ in round four (4) looked more like a ballet dancer than a boxer as he was flying around in he ring and tripping in other cases.
Joshua who was saved by the bell in many of the rounds came into the fifth round looking all super and ready to trade punches but Dubois wasn’t having any of that as he switched from defense to offense. He caught AJ with a right hook that he couldn’t recover from. The referee gave AJ the eight (8) count and the ballet dancer could not get back to his feet.
With Dubois retaining his IBF World heavyweight title, it is very likely the defeated will call for a rematch as the champion can choose to look forward to better opportunities.
Frederick Marfo is a sportswriter and social worker well known for his advocacy for equal chances and rights for all athletes, especially those with disabilities.
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