Riyadh Season took place at Wembley Stadium in front of 96,000 fans and saw Daniel Dubois shake up the heavyweight division by knocking out Anthony Joshua in the fifth round to retain his IBF heavyweight title.

Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) came into the bout off a dominant second-round victory over Francis Ngannou in March, while Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) elevated himself to world champion with a stunning eighth-round stoppage of Filip Hrgovic in June.

Dubois went on the attack from the opening bell, trying to get Joshua under his belt, did well and stunned the crowd, knocking Joshua down demanding with a right hand behind schedule in the first round that landed squarely on the money.

The bell came to Joshua’s rescue, but Dubois immediately went on the attack in the second round, again wobbling “AJ” with a left hand, as well as a few other demanding punches.

The fog finally lifted for Joshua towards the end of the round, but disaster struck again behind schedule in the third when another hefty left landed on Joshua’s legs as he sought refuge on the canvas.

The two-time world champion was again out early in the fourth round and was all out but played the round brilliantly. He then produced his best spell of the fight, stunning Dubois with a right hand but stepped into one of his own during the attack and was flattened on impact.

The referee started the count, but Joshua was unable to beat him and… the competition has ended.

Sheeraz flatters Denny

Hamzah Sheeraz (21-0, 17 KO) added the European middleweight title to his Commonwealth and WBC silver belts with a ruthless two-round shutout of Tyler Denny (19-3-3, 1 KO).

Denny was down within the first 15 seconds of the fight, and a round later a sweeping left hand dropped Denny and he was unable to continue.

Buatsi smashes Hutchinson

Joshua Buatsi (19-0, 13 KOs) won the WBO interim featherlight heavyweight title by defeating Willy Hutchinson (18-2, 13 KOs) by two knockouts.

A flurry of slashing blows to the head and body saw Hutchinson drop to the canvas in the sixth set, and the Scot was back on the deck in the ninth with another flurry of blows. Hutchinson was competitive but never looked like winning, especially after a point deduction for head exploit in round seven, although one judge awarded him a 113-112 win, rightly broken by scores of 117-108 and 115-110 in Buatsi’s favour.

Cacace leaves Warrington

Anthony Cacace (23-1, 8 KOs) defended his IBO super featherweight title and likely ended the storied career of Josh Warrington (31-4, 8 KOs) as the Northern Irishman claimed a clear points victory in their clash.

It was a close fight, but Cacace was just one step ahead in the main round and edged out the winner by two scores of 117-111 and a third score of 118-110.

Warrington left his gloves in the ring after the fight, which is usually a sign of retirement.

Kelly overtakes Davis

Josh Kelly (16-1-1, 8 KOs) had to accept a last-minute opponent change after Liam Smith was sidelined and was tested by Ishmael Davis (13-1, 6 KOs) before winning a majority decision in their middleweight fight.

Scores of 115-114 and 115-113 were for Kelly, while the third judge scored it a 114-114 draw.

MD wins for @joshpbk 👏

He survived a behind schedule push from Ishmael Davis to win – 114-114, 115-113, 115-114#KellyDavis #JoshuaDubois #RiyadhSeasonal Card pic.twitter.com/rPTuAOda3N

— Boxing at Matchroom (@MatchroomBoxing) September 21, 2024

The opening bout saw a huge upset as Mark Chamberlain (16-1, 12 KOs) lost his undefeated record to Josh Padley (15-0, 4 KOs) on points in a ten-round decision. Padley scored an eighth-round knockdown to be declared the winner by two scores of 96-92 and a third of 95-93.

Terence Crawford says his advantage in speed and reach could prove crucial after once again calling for a fight with Canelo Alvarez.

Crawford was ringside at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to witness Canelo defend his unified super middleweight titles, defeating Edgar Berlanga en route to a unanimous decision victory.

The 36-year-old, who won the WBA super welterweight title in August with a win over Israil Madrimov, would have to move up two weight classes to challenge the Mexican legend.

While he admitted he would give up size to face Alvarez, “Bud” insists it would be nothing up-to-date for him.

“I understand that Canelo is bigger than me,” Crawford said Sports TMZ.

“But I’m up for the challenge.

“His punching power and size are the only things I have to worry about, but who knows?

“When we get in the ring, we don’t know how I’ll handle his punching power and size.

“I’ve been fighting bigger guys my whole life, so I’m pretty familiar with this aspect.

“Canelo and I are the same height.

“I have a longer reach than Canelo, I’m faster than Canelo, but Canelo is bigger than me, stronger than me.

“We both give something, but we also gain something.”

When asked what the fight would be like, he added: “Of course I’ll beat him.

“I have no doubt that I will not beat anyone I step into the ring with.”

After the fight, the Omaha native went to the Sphere to watch UFC 306 and sat down next to Saudi Arabia’s boxing chief, Turki Alalshikh.

Alalshikh invited Alvarez to meet with Crawford before his fight with Berlanga, but the Mexican said he would not hold any talks until after the fight.

Canelo didn’t get drawn into discussion of a showdown with Crawford at the post-fight press conference, but given his apparent lack of interest in his highly anticipated clash with David Benavidez, a meeting with “Bud” could be his most lucrative option.

Daniel Dubois cannot afford to make “one mistake” in his fight with Anthony Joshua or risk a knockout like Francis Ngannou, Eddie Hearn has warned.

Hearn and Frank Warren are joining forces to promote Joshua’s Saturday fight with IBF heavyweight champion Dubois at Wembley Stadium.

The 27-year-old rose from interim champion to the full belt shortly after stopping Filip Hrgovic in June, while “AJ” is on a three-fight stoppage streak.

Joshua demolished former UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou over two rounds in March, five months after the 38-year-old defeated Tyson Fury, before suffering a controversial split decision defeat.

Hearn insists Dubois will suffer a similar fate to the Cameroonian if he makes any mistakes.

“People want to discredit Ngannou, but look what he did against Fury,” the matchroom chairman said Heavenly sports.

“I think he beat him. Anthony made it a mismatch and he needed a cushion.

“If Daniel Dubois wants to get hit with a right hand and wants to make sloppy mistakes, the same thing that happened to Ngannou will happen to him.

“If you get hit by Anthony Joshua right now, you’ll fall asleep.

“If Daniel Dubois comes out aggressively like he did against [Filip] Hrgovic, you’re going to get shot.

“And if he makes one mistake, it’ll be Daniel Dubois’ night.”

Much of the build-up to the fight centred around ‘Dynamite’ dropping the Watford man during a sparring session that took place seven years ago when both fighters were in Team GB.

Hearn, who has promoted the 34-year-old since he turned professional after winning gold at the 2012 Olympics, says the significance of the rumours is overstated.

“When they [Queensberry] signed Dubois, there was a narrative going around that Dubois had flattened AJ,” Hearn said. Professional boxing fans.

“Now all of a sudden we find out he rocked him with a left hook, AJ took a quick walk around the ring and then continued sparring.

“If you get seriously injured during sparring, you don’t continue with the spar.

“The fact that they were holding the pole tells you all you need to know about how badly he was injured.

“I’m sure he was pissed off during sparring, not just with Daniel Dubois but with all sorts of different people, because those are huge heavyweights and when you get hit right in the chin, that’s what happens.”