Daniel Dubois celebrates with his team after defeating Anthony Joshua in front of a record crowd. Photo by Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing. Daniel Dubois celebrates his victory with his team.
On a star-studded evening at the home of English sport, Riyadh Season came to London.
The glamor that graced several shows in Riyadh and last month in Los Angeles has come to Wembley Stadium.
Thousands packed Trafalgar Square for the weigh-ins and on Saturday night a monster crowd of 98,128 packed the huge venue (has anyone seen Carl Froch, ha ha) to see a six-fight card featuring headliners in their own right ( more on that later) before some British heavyweights took center stage.
Heading into the IBF heavyweight title contest, few gave Daniel Dubois much of a chance to beat Anthony Joshua. The defending champion is priced at 11/4 (+275) and in a Fight picks I tabulated for The Ringonly one (salute to Duke McKenzie) out of the 20 experts who chose DDD.
There were rumors of their sparring session a few years ago. As always, those old gym stories were all over the place, some suggesting that AJ was bossing the proceedings, while others said that Dubois acquitted himself very well and even dropped Joshua. But as they say sparring is sparring, it’s very different when they actually get in there.
Dubois came in first and looked a little scared, while Joshua walked in like he was at home, at ease with what was about to unfold.
It was a contested point, Dubois was sharp and dominant from the start with his pinpoint jab, while Joshua was perhaps overconfident and looked too loose, his guard low and easy to hit. In the final seconds of the opening round, a big overhand right caught Joshua flush and dropped him. Joshua scrambled to his feet and the bell intervened before any more punches could be thrown.
Dubois takes it to Joshua. Photo by Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing.
The minute’s rest was not enough, and Dubois stormed off early in Round 2. While Joshua will come in for a lot of stick from the naysayers, the one thing he can’t be criticized for is heart, he showed it in spades on Saturday. Despite being caught repeatedly and on wobbly legs, he managed to stay upright.
In the final seconds of the third round, that changed when Dubois threw a left hook that AJ didn’t see, the popular Brit’s legs did a dance and Dubois struck again. Joshua put both gloves on the canvas and the count began, but the referee, Marcus McDonnell, was behind both fighters and could not see the landing and therefore allowed the action to continue. Several more unanswered punches landed and Joshua sank to the canvas. Again, the bell probably saved him.
As Round 4 began, Dubois raced across the ring and scored the third takedown. The end seemed imminent. To Joshua’s credit he fought on wildly.
In Round 5, Joshua finally landed three big right hands that backed up Dubois, but just as quickly as the miraculous comeback looked, Dubois ended things with a devastating right hand that landed as Joshua launched a wide uppercut. AJ was dropped for the fourth and final time. This time he could not get to his feet, and was counted out at 0.59.
IT’S ALL OVER🔥🔥🔥#Riyadh Season Card: Wembley edition#JoshuaDubois | Live on NOW https://t.co/FoiaUucafv: Click link in bio to buy | @turk_alalshikh pic.twitter.com/zZEm2Vufy9
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) September 21, 2024
Dubois landed 79 of 196 punches for an impressive 40.3 percent hook rate. While Joshua landed 32 of 117 for a 27.4 percent conversation. The younger man’s jab landed 30 of 100 times, while Joshua landed 18 of 82 jabs for a 22 percent connection rate.
Joshua (28-4, 25 knockouts) suggested he wants a rematch in the post-fight interview. However, it was so one-sided it doesn’t seem to make much sense. Maybe Joshua (34) can work his way back, but he’s made a fortune, and you wonder if he has the desire to climb the mountain again. He said afterwards that he does but time will tell.
Meanwhile, Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs), who enjoyed a year-long run of beating Jarrell Miller (TKO 10) and Filip Hrgovic (TKO 8), now claimed his biggest scalp yet. He mentioned unified Ring Magazine champion Oleksandr Usyk, but they fought just over a year ago and I’d like to see him win another fight or two before I look at that option. A fight with any of the others who have impressed on Riyadh season namely Joseph Parker, Zhilei Zhang, Agit Kabayel or, for my money, Martin Bakole would be nice.
Tyson Fury, who shares the same promoter as Dubois, did not share his stablemates’ joy.
“It cost me £150 million!” 😅🤣
Tyson Fury’s immediate reaction to AJ getting KO’d 🤑#JoshuaDubois pic.twitter.com/PeraMGLrHD
— Boxing on TNT Sports (@boxingontnt) September 22, 2024
The undercard has been talked about a lot. We saw the public undressing of Mark Chamberlain. The lightweight, who by The Ring no. 9 rated was highly rated but well beaten by Josh Padley. It’s potentially a life-changing win for Padley, who can expect bigger things next. Maybe he drops back to his usual 130 and makes his way with a lot more attention now or maybe he faces Sam Noakes at 135. It’s back to the drawing board for Chamberlain, who looked dry for the weight. Maybe he stays at lightweight or tests the waters at junior welterweight. Either way, the shine is well and truly off.
Josh Kelly beat late sub Ismail Davis in a middleweight bout. It wasn’t the most exciting fight, and we’ll see and both return to 154.
Anthony Cacace continued his impressive recent run by outpointing Josh Warrington over 12 rounds. Many were upset that the IBF wouldn’t sanction the fight, but if they didn’t see fit to put Warrington in their top 15, that’s their prerogative. Cacace, at 35, is enjoying something of an Indian summer in his career. He next has to face the tough mandatory Eduardo Nunez. While Warrington, who have lost their last three and now 33, look like they are not what they used to be. He was an overachiever, who enjoyed a very productive career.
In a light heavyweight clash between two Ring-rated fighters, Buatsi, no. 4, Hutchinson, no. 9, dropped twice which also got a point. There was some remarkable scoring by the officials. One judge inexplicably gave it to Hutchinson, the second was too generous to Buatsi who scored it for him by a very wide margin, while the third, in my opinion, got it right with a score of 115-110, which translated to 7-5 in rounds with the two 10-8 knockout rounds plus the point deduction. Hutchinson is young and may follow Dubois’ lead and learn and recover from his losses. Buatsi, a 2016 Olympian, has been a professional for seven years. He is rumored to have turned down a fight with WBA reigning Dmitry Bivol, saying he wasn’t ready. This fight was for the WBO interim title, so you’d think he’s at worst a fight or two away from facing the Bivol-Artur Beterbiev winner. If he’s not ready now, he never will be.
Willy Hutchinson and Joshua Buatsi. Photo by Mark Robinson / Matchroom Boxing
Middleweight phenom Hamzah Sheeraz continued his march to the top of the division by taking out the usually solid Tyler Denny to add the European title to his growing collection of belts. Sheeraz is ready for anyone, and I’ll put him as a favorite over any middleweight not named Janibek Alimkhanuly.
There are three more Riyadh season shows scheduled for this year:
Next, on October 12, Riyadh Seisoen returns home for the mouth-watering undisputed light heavyweight championship between Beterbiev and Bivol, which he says is the best fight in boxing. The vacant Ring Magazine title will be up for grabs.
Then it’s Golden Boy’s time to shine on November 16, when they headline “Latino Night” in Riyadh, with WBA cruiserweight titleholder Gilberto Ramirez and WBO belt holder Chris Billam-Smith taking center stage in their union.
To round out the year, Usyk, the Ring, WBA, WBC and WBO heavyweight champion, and Tyson Fury will square it off on December 21.
While certain aspects of the shows may not be to everyone’s taste, what cannot be debated is that we see many of the best fighters in the world fighting on the biggest possible stage with the biggest and most innovative platforms we have. have seen yet. in box.
Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at (email protected) and you can follow him
Twitter @AnsonWainwr1ght
