Featured Image Credit: Richard Pelham/Getty Images
Topics: Boxing, Sport, Anthony Joshua
Joe Harker
Fans watching Daniel Dubois' victory over Anthony Joshua last night (21 September) might have noticed that there was a 'break' with tradition to start things off.
In case you haven't heard, Dubois had his first IBF heavyweight title defence and won it at Wembley in five rounds against Anthony Joshua.
Joshua was knocked to the canvas in the first round and Dubois dominated the fight for the rest of the match, putting his opponent down (in the physical sense, not the 'it's time for Rover to take a trip to the vet' sense) and out for good.
With 96,000 fans watching on at Wembley Stadium, it's unclear where Joshua goes from here.
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Knocked out in the fifth round, and indeed this is the fifth time he's been knocked out in his career, Joshua's chances of becoming undisputed champion and fighting Tyson Fury may have been put on hold.
Joshua has come back before, the question is whether he will again after graciously saying 'well played' in the aftermath of his defeat.
While Dubois dominated the fight inside the ring, everything up until then had been all about Joshua.
And boxing fans noticed that Dubois was first into the ring and said this 'broke tradition'.
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Indeed, as a general rule, it's the defending champion who gets to step into the ring second, making the challenger wait for their dramatic entrance.
This time the roles were reversed, with The Sun saying it was because Joshua was 'the A-side and bigger name', while The Guardian called the switcheroo 'a clear sign that [Dubois] was meant to play a supporting role to the Joshua Show'.
Joshua is known for his big entrances and part of last night's show featured Liam Gallagher performing a trio of Oasis songs to the 96,000 strong crowd at Wembley.
Despite it all, Dubois kept his composure and demonstrated that he really was the champ.
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A lot of boxing fans were wondering 'why is Dubois coming in the ring first', while some criticised it as 'disrespectful' to break with boxing tradition so Joshua could enter second.
However, even if the champion did take second billing, some boxing fans said it all added up to a 'delicious meal' when Dubois did get the win, and in such a comprehensive fashion.
We'll have to see what the future holds for Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois.
The IBF champion would surely now be on a collision course with Oleksandr Usyk, who he previously challenged last year and came away defeated in controversial circumstances.
The first Usyk vs Dubois fight took place in Wrocław, Poland on 26 August, 2023 and ended in Usyk winning by KO in the ninth round.
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In the fifth round, Dubois had knocked Usyk to the canvas with a punch that was controversially deemed to be a low blow, with the Ukrainian boxer taking three minutes and 45 seconds out before he was able to continue.