Once upon a time, not so long ago, some called Daniel Dubois a “coward.” They questioned his heart, his integrity, and whether deep down he was truly a champion.

The critical thing is that he never questioned himself. Dubois fought the stigma. He rejuvenated his career with victories over Jarrell Miller (TKO 10) and Filip Hrgovic (TKO 8). His victory over Hrgovic earned him the interim IBF title, which was later elevated to the “full” list of titles.

Still, he and Anthony Joshua needed each other. They were two wounded boxing souls, connected by a common denominator—each had lost to the undefeated Ringo and world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. Both needed to reclaim their heavyweight positions, both needed redemption in a strange way against each other.

Dubois won the belt Saturday night in a stunning fifth-round knockout of Joshua at “Riyadh Season: Wembley Edition” before a record crowd of 96,000 at Wembley Stadium in London, England, defending the IBF heavyweight title that Usyk vacated for a rematch with Tyson Fury in December.

The Ring’s No. 6 heavyweight contender, the 27-year-old Dubois (22-2, 21 knockouts) floored the 34-year-old Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) in the first, third, fourth and fifth rounds. The end officially came at :59 of the fifth round when Dubois caught Joshua in the jaw with a counter right punch.

“I just have a few things to say: ‘Aren’t you entertained!’” Dubois shouted to the energetic crowd. “It’s been a long journey. I’m grateful to be in this position. I’m a gladiator and a warrior who fights to the bitter end. Behind the scenes, working with my dad and having a mighty team helped me get through it. I’ve been on a rollercoaster and this is my redemption story.”

Dubois landed 91 of 230 punches (46%), including 27 power punches, while Joshua landed 60 of 139 (48%) and 16 power punches.

“Credit to (Dubois) and his team,” Joshua said. “We rolled the dice and we didn’t get it. You know I’m pissed off. You know I want to kick it. We’re still rolling the dice. I had a tough opponent, a swift opponent, but I made a lot of mistakes. That’s the game, as pissed off as I am.”

Daniel Dubois catches Anthony Joshua in round 1. From that point on, Joshua had no chance against Dubois. (Photo by Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing)

Early on, Dubois attacked Joshua in the first minute. Dubois, dressed in black, entered the ring very composed, almost seemingly too relaxed. Joshua, in white trunks, seemed tense during his walk around the ring.

Dubois, weighing 248.6 pounds, his career-high, dropped Joshua with a powerful right hook to the chin in the final five seconds of the first round, after Joshua missed Dubois with a right hook.

Not wanting to lose momentum, Dubois came at Joshua in the opening minutes of the second round. Dubois looked to have Joshua in trouble again, but by the middle of the round Joshua seemed to have settled down. Joshua survived the round despite being struck in the back of the head by a right from Dubois.

Early in the third round, Dubois stunned Joshua with a quick combination. He forced Joshua to retreat and still look for his feet. In the final minute of the round, Dubois sent Joshua to the canvas for the second time. Dubois crushed Joshua with a left to the chin, and referee Marcus McDonnell did a very needy job of not seeing Joshua’s gloves touch the cloth.

Dubois dropped Joshua — officially — early in the fourth round. Perhaps it was a rebound from the previous round, as it looked more like a slip than a punch-induced knockdown.

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Joshua was everywhere. Dubois looked tired, but Joshua looked to be on his feet. With 1:29 left in the round, Dubois threw a right jab at Joshua that sent him sprawling backwards against the ropes. Slow in the fourth, Joshua didn’t seem to have much to lose.

As Joshua looked to be coming back in the fifth round, Dubois caught Joshua with a counter right to the chin with 2:11 left in the round. Joshua went down in the corner for the fourth time, and this time McDonnell made the right decision and turned it down at :59.

Joshua’s future is something to consider. He was supposed to eat Andy Ruiz Jr. in June 2019 and was knocked out in the seventh round, losing his IBF and WBO titles. He lost those same titles to Usyk in 2021 and lost to Usyk in a rematch in 2022.

He is now on his third trainer after parting ways with Robert McCracken following his first loss to Usyk in September 2021. He was previously coached by Derrick James and Robert Garcia before settling on his current trainer, Ben Davison.

“AJ kept fighting, never gave up and never stopped trying to get up when he couldn’t get up,” said Matchroom Promotions CEO Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s promoter. “A huge, huge congratulations to Daniel Dubois. I’m sure AJ will exercise his rematch clause. Daniel Dubois deserves all the credit.”

When it comes to the number of missed opportunities Joshua has had, Dubois is on the opposite side. Dubois appeared to have knocked Usyk down in the fifth round of their August 2023 fight, which was considered a low blow, although some thought it was controversial. Usyk outlasted Dubois, stopping him in the ninth round.

When asked who he would like to fight next, Dubois said Usyk. He will have to wait for that chance.

Meanwhile, no one will call him a “give up” anymore.

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Daniel Dubois literally crushed Anthony Joshua, knocking down the former world champion five times to earn a convincing victory.

Joshua never took part in the fight and lost in front of 96,000 spectators, while Dubois completely dominated the 2012 Olympic gold medalist.

Dubois punched Joshua in the jaw early on but the Watford man never recovered. Joshua showed he is far from his humble self as he struggled to cope with the ongoing defeat.

Tongues out, chest-thumping and laughing, the younger, better man completely put Joshua in his place. The victory proves Joshua was never the British “Muhammad Ali” as Eddie Hearn claimed.

Joshua vs. Dubois preliminary fight results:

Hamzah Sheraz defeated the much smaller and less advanced Tyler Denny in a brutal two-round fight.

Sheeraz was in full control of the situation and got the job done in second gear.

Joshua Buatsi He knocked down Willy Hutchinson twice in a decision that didn’t tell the whole story.

The two fought a fierce battle in which both were injured, and the fight undoubtedly deserves a rematch.

Despite the shooting, the result should not have been in doubt.

Yet somehow one of the judges awarded the win to Hutchinson 113-112, despite two rounds being 10-8 and a point deduction in Buatsi’s favour.

Buatsi correctly accepted the 117-108 and 115-110 verdicts along with the other judges, but only one of those scores was close to reality.

Hutchinson has proven he is world class and could fight for a second fight, which could be a good sign for O2.

Anthony Cacace defended his featherweight title against the ever-stubborn Josh Warrington.

In what was a congested fight for most, Cacace kept Warrington at bay and thwarted the Leeds man’s usual spoiling tactics.

After twelve rounds Cacace won on points 118-110 and twice 117-111.

In the second preliminary fight, Joshua vs. Dubois, in the super welterweight division Josh Kelly won a decision over eventual replacement Ishmael Davis. Kelly seemed to be on top for most of the fight, opening up a gap in the first few sessions.

However, the scores were much closer than expected, as Davis came out powerful in the final few rounds. One judge even scored it a 114-114 draw. The other two saw it for Kelly at 115-113 and 115-114.

Josh Padley surprised Wembley in the opening fight, knocking down and defeating Turki Alalshikh favourite Mark Chamberlain.

Padley, an electrician who took two months off to compete in the fight, used a smothering tactic to keep Chamberlain at bay. Slow in the fight, Padley knocked Chamberlain down before claiming a decision victory.

IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois knocked down Anthony Joshua four times and crushed his fellow Londoner in five incredible rounds at Wembley Stadium.

Dubois was in control, but moments before the fight was stopped, Joshua cracked Dubois and hurt him with three powerful right hooks. Then, when Dubois threw two of his own in return, Joshua fell face down, his dreams of becoming a three-time heavyweight champion vanishing into the London air after 59 seconds of the fifth round.

“Aren’t you having fun?” shouted a delighted Dubois, who now has a record of 22-2 (20 KOs).

Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk had already been in the ring for months before their rematch in Saudi Arabia in December, and Dubois threw the rest of the heavyweights into the blender by catching Joshua off guard in such emphatic fashion.

Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) showed heart, courage and determination, but refused to be deterred by the disastrous start.

In front of an electrifying crowd and tens of thousands of fans, Dubois – the titleholder – took on the unusual position of the challenger coming out first, similar to what happened earlier in the evening when Hamzah Sheeraz came out to stop Tyler Denny.

Dubois landed the first good right hook of the fight, supporting himself with a brutal, powerful jab from the outset.

Joshua landed an overhand right with a minute left in the session. Dubois looked out of the ring after receiving a crushing right hook and before Joshua connected with a powerful right hook that floored the former Olympic champion.

Joshua tried to stay serene, but Dubois surged forward, caught Joshua with a powerful right and began pummeling him with both hands.

Wembley fell into a stunned silence. Joshua looked heavy-legged and forced to hold on. Dubois snapped AJ’s head back with a punch, and Dubois, a man whose temperament had so often been questioned, looked uplifted, confident and in charge.

The key was the punch. Dubois was able to time Joshua and get a punch in when they both threw at the same time. Tardy in the second round, Dubois took a shot because he was a little overconfident, but Dubois came out of the blocks again in the third round.

Jab, double jab, Dubois landing long punches. And he landed a right hand, too. Joshua tried to get some life back into his legs. He looked for the right hook, the punch that almost landed Wladimir Klitschko on a similarly intoxicating night at Wembley in 2017.

That night Joshua was also transferred to the canvas, but this time the ending was completely different.

Tardy in the session, Dubois surged forward. He landed meaty punches, and Joshua began to fall apart. His trembling legs sent him staggering back toward the ropes, and Dubois pounced.

Joshua, back on the ropes, covered up, but Dubois kept going. Sensing his moment, he threw punches with both hands, and Joshua fell once more.

He touched the ground with his glove, which started the countdown, but referee Marcus McDonnell allowed the fight to continue and ordered his colleague to stop, and Dubois showed no mercy.

Joshua didn’t recover until the fourth round began. He was on the ground almost from Dubois’ first punches, and when Joshua slid to the mat, many thought the fight was over – but Joshua got back to his feet. There, he staggered through the fight, clinging to his chance to become a three-time heavyweight champion.

Joshua was very brave and courageous. He stubbornly accepted a nonchalant expression on his face, but he was in a terrible state, having huge shots. Somehow he survived this stormy fourth.

He lost in the first, second and fourth rounds.

“Fucking warrior spirit,” AJ’s trainer, Ben Davison, said between rounds.

“One hundred percent,” Joshua replied.

“Start mixing it up,” Davison urged.

Joshua looked relatively keen early in the fifth and landed a powerful right hook that wobbled Dubois. He landed a few more punches on Dubois, and as Joshua got greedy, Dubois crushed the charging Joshua with a devastating right hook, then finished him with another right—the kind of devastating finisher that will happily go down in the annals of time and highlight reels alongside the devastating punches landed by Jack Johnson, Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, George Foreman, and Mike Tyson.

Joshua lunged forward, face first. Marcus McDonnell counted him out, and the crowd rose as one, shocked and horrified by the violence they were witnessing.

Unbelievable. This turned into a heavyweight shootout for the ages.

Dubois, 27, who has fought just 90 rounds in competition and lost to Joe Joyce and Usyk, shook up Anthony Joshua. He shook up the status quo of the division. And yes, he shook up the boxing world.