Anthony Joshua is at the center of a stunning fallout over his defeat to Daniel Dubois after visible mass cheering at Wembley Stadium.
Since the worst loss of his career, Joshua’s future is not only in tatters, but his reputation is also on the ropes. Several hundred social media posts and videos, including one where Conor McGregor delighted in seeing Dubois obliterate Joshua, make it clear the former Olympic champion is no longer the darling of UK boxing.
At one point in his career, AJ could do no wrong. All loved him, and even social media ‘hacks’ where he championed Robert Mugabe and made ‘superior black’ racial comments went unpunished.
Antics in the ring after losing to Oleksandr Usyk seemed to alter the public’s mindset as Joshua’s persona evolved into one of entitlement and disrespect. This scenario transpired despite the Londoner telling his opponents not to disrespect him and claiming he was ‘humble’ to the core.
To many, Joshua got his just deserts after years of ramming his whiter-than-white image down everybody’s throats. Not to mention his promoter, who informed everyone that Joshua was the second coming of a boxing Christ despite knowing full well that his man had several flaws.
Those noticeable downsides would have been better served being laid out in public and would undoubtedly have put Joshua under less pressure. As it transpired, that pressure ate Anthony Joshua alive, ultimately leading to his demise from 2019 onwards.
Against Dubois, CompuBox labeled it a ‘one-side drubbing’ – which is hard to argue with. They said, “Dubois came out firing in the opening frame and knocked Joshua down in the closing seconds of the round with an overhand right. At the end of two rounds, Dubois had landed 18 power punches, and Joshua had landed five.
“Dubois scored a second knockdown in the third round. Joshua landed a left hook at the beginning of the fourth round only to be shaken by a Dubois jab and eventually knocked down again. In a desperate attempt to change the tide of the fight, Joshua tried to jump on Dubois in the opening seconds of the fifth round.
“Joshua seemed to stun and back up Dubois, but a Dubois counterpunch put Joshua down and out at 59 seconds of the fifth round.
“The final stats reflect a one-sided drubbing. Dubois landed more than twice as many total punches than Joshua. Joshua threw 35 power punches. Dubois landed 49 power punches and scored four knockdowns.”
In addition, Joshua insisted on ring-walking first, and the whole charade had a whiff of privilege that was undeserved given his recent form. Dubois had earned the right to be the champion, if only by looking at his achievements since 2022, but he was obviously not allowed to exercise that right due to Joshua’s ego.
Regarding his entrance to talkSPORT, IBF heavyweight champion Dubois came across well in his assessment.
“It’s not right is it really for the champ to come out first? I think we had a great ring walk. I was just soaking it up. We lit up the place,” said Dubois.
“I was all business from the moment I left the dressing room. Once I was in that ring, there was no looking back. Now, it’s on.”
Anthony Joshua ring walks first
On Joshua’s prolonged ring walk, Dubois replied, “I didn’t really watch it. I heard it. It was quiet and lame. We definitely won the first battle in the ring walks.”
Fans commented on Joshua during the aftermath, with one distinctly British detractor saying, “I know a lot of fans went to Wembley to see Joshua lose and hopefully get knocked out.”
Another added, “Joshua got deservedly knocked the f*** out. Outboxed, outclassed, and losing massively on points and doing s*** like this [pulling tongues]. Fraud found out big-time.”
Boxing trainer Stephen’ Breadman’ Edwards probably summed everything up best after his comments on Joshua pulling tongues, disrespecting Dubois, and calling him ‘s***’ moments before getting wiped out.
Edwards stated, “Never be dismissive of your opponent. You can’t call a guy s*** who dropped you multiple times.”
It’s a fitting end to the whole debacle.
The views expressed in this article are the opinions of Phil Jay. Learn more, read all articles from the experienced boxing writer, and follow on Twitter @PhilJWBN.
