With his stunning five round demolition of Anthony Joshua last night, Daniel Dubois has cemented his position among heavyweight legends such as Herbie Hide as a two-time world heavyweight champion.
Joshua was dominated throughout, after being floored for the first time in the contest in the opening round. Dubois brought the fight to a close with a right hand in the fifth round, which dropped AJ, and he was unable to beat the referee’s count.
Despite the shocking loss, Joshua vowed to fight on. Promoter Eddie Hearn revealed that AJ has a rematch cluse in his contract, which he can trigger if he wishes to pursue an immediate return with Dubois.
Rematch clauses have become common place in topflight boxing and should not be seen as a lack of confidence by the likes of Hearn in his fighter’s ability to win fights or a disinclination to earn a rematch in the traditional sporting sense. Nor should they be seen as preventing other deserving fighters from getting their shot at the title while the public are served up an endless succession of rematches. Not at all. Why should AJ not have an immediate rematch if he wishes? As was the case against Andy Ruiz and Oleksandr Usyk, he was comprehensively beaten. He shouldn’t have to suffer the indignity of earning his way to a rematch by beating other opponents first to prove himself worthy. Remember, you get what you negotiate in this game, not what you deserve.
Should Joshua choose not to exercise his legal and moral right to an immediate rematch with Dubois, he may pursue a contest with WBA champion Mahmoud Charr. Securing the WBA belt with a victory over Charr would make AJ a three-time champion, elevating his status to alongside legendary three-time champion, Muhammad Ali. Everyone knows that being a three-time champion like Ali is better than being a two-time champion like Herbie Hide.
The heavyweight title picture could be further complicated once again by the demands of the sanctioning bodies. The IBF have given Daniel Dubois until Tuesday of next week to fight former foe Filip Hirgovic. Failure to do so will result in Dubois being stripped of the title and Hirgovic meeting Jarrell Miller for the vacant title.
In other breaking news in the heavyweight division, Deontay Wilder has revealed the existence of another clause in his contract from when he fought Tyson Fury that allows him another contest with the Gypsy King. Wilder has announced his intention to trigger that clause and demand an immediate fourth fight with Tyson. Wilder is coming off the back of two consecutive defeats in which he appeared to have completely lost the appetite for throwing punches. The announcement would seem to jeopardise the plans for a Usyk-Fury rematch in December. The Usyk-Fury rematch, of course, follows their first fight in May when Usyk proved himself to be the superior fighter, but is scheduled to take place to ensure that everyone gets paid twice.
In the extended interlude between the completion of the undercard and the main event, fans at Wembley were treated to an unexpected musical treat from a legendary British performer, when Roy Wood and Wizzard took to the stage to perform their much-loved hit, “I wish it could be Riyadh Season every day.”
It should be noted that not only was the author of this report not at ringside for Dubois-Joshua, he has not even seen the fight yet, so is not able to guarantee the accuracy of anything that he has written.
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