It was a few hours after the lights had gone down when the heavens opened over London.
But Daniel Dubois had already rained down on Anthony Joshua with a thunderous right hand that will write his name into Wembley Stadium folklore. It was a counter shot which will stand the test of time. It will be on knockout highlight reels for years to come.
Joshua, 34, had already been down three times in the first, third and fourth, but the fifth-round finish was the exclamation mark on a performance of a lifetime from Dubois. Think Juan Manuel Marquez’s right hand that sent Manny Pacquiao face first into the canvas.
READ MORE: Anthony Joshua addresses retirement claims after he’s stopped by Daniel Dubois
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Or Sergio Martinez putting Paul Williams out cold. Andy Lee walking John Jackson on to one as well. They’re worth your time on YouTube if you need to be reminded.
It’s often the one you don’t see which does the most damage. Joshua was blinded by going for the kill himself and got punished to be sent to his fourth career defeat.
(Image: Getty Images)
It would be wrong to say it was an intentional trap set by Dubois in the fifth round. He was hurt himself after Joshua looked to have found a way back into the battle with a right hand of his own.
For the first time, ‘Dynamite’ was on the back foot but it was from there where he threw the punch which now leaves the heavyweight landscape looking very different. It was pure instinct yet it was still pure brilliance. It made Dubois more than worthy of wearing the IBF title he had been promoted to as champion outside of the ring.
“AJ came out with his chin high and I thought ‘he needs to put that down’,” said Lennox Lewis, who was ringside. “Against a right-handed knockout puncher, that is opening the door for him.”
Dubois went through the door to the elite heavyweights and shut it in ‘AJ’s face. After beating the count in the first, third and fourth rounds, this time Joshua was never getting up.
The punch took all the strength from his body and he went limp before hitting the canvas. Tyson Fury watched from ringside. Not that the Gypsy King needs the cash, but the money drained from their long overdue superfight quicker than the life drained from Joshua as he slumped to the deck.
They waited too long to face each other and, while now any meeting may still make them a few million, it will now longer have anything near the same interest or significance. Dubois has now entered the conversation for Fury if the Gypsy King can overcome Oleksandr Usyk on December 21 in their Riyadh rematch.
There would also be a rerun with Usyk – who stopped him last year in Poland – if it is the Ukrainian who retains the title as the king of the division. More fights are out there for Dubois who, at 27, has now overcome questions over his heart following that loss to Usyk and an earlier career defeat by Joe Joyce to prove promoter Frank Warren right for backing him.
(Image: Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
He’s young in heavyweight years and he will bring drama not only for his power but the vulnerability he retains. “Everyone said I would get knocked out but I did the business and proved everyone wrong,” said Dubois. This is just the start for me. Fury and Usyk are my targets, I want to put my wrongs right.”
If Joshua had won on Saturday night, then this morning he would be booking his flight to Saudi for a scouting mission in December. Joshua and Deontay Wilder missed each other at their peak thanks to politics and untimely defeats.
Now it looks like ‘AJ’ and Fury could go the same way. It wasn’t the only right hand the Watford warrior took in the fight or in his career for that matter.
But that special counter punch was one good enough to change the outlook of the division and Joshua’s career. And it most certainly has.