Daniel Dubois lived up to his 'Dynamite' nickname with an explosive fifth-round knockout of Anthony Joshua to retain his IBF heavyweight world title on Saturday night as Riyadh Season made a spectacular debut in London.
The 27-year-old champion dominated the bout from the start in front of 96,000 passionate fans inside Wembley Stadium, dropping the former two-time heavyweight champion multiple times from the first round onwards.
Dubois had spoken of his determination to "legitimise" his reign as IBF champion after being handed the belt that Oleksandr Usyk vacated in June. He produced a destructive display that raises major questions over Joshua's future, though Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn said he expected his fighter would pursue a rematch.
Despite holding the belt, Dubois was viewed as the underdog and made his entrance to the ring first – a clear sign that it was Joshua who was the A-side. However, he went after his celebrated rival from the start and was rewarded as his big shots wobbled the former unified world champion time and again.
In an action-packed fifth round of the breathless clash, Dubois landed the decisive blow, having come through worrying moments himself as Joshua finally found his range.
"Are you not entertained?" he said, speaking to DAZN after the biggest win of his 24-fight career. "It's been a journey and I'm grateful to be in this position. I'm a gladiator, I'm a warrior until the bitter end. I want to get to the top of this sport and reach my full potential."
Oasis's Liam Gallagher fired up the expectant crowd with a live set of three songs before fireworks exploded over Wembley.
The British rivals locked horns in a dramatic opening round that ended with Joshua being saved by the bell after he was floored by a savage overhand right.
Joshua, four pounds (1.8kg) heavier than his younger opponent, was in full survival mode in round two and in the following round, Dubois had him down again, a left hook causing his legs to buckle.
A standing eight count was followed by the bell and as the fourth round got underway Joshua was floored for the third time, although he protested that it was not a legitimate knockdown.
In a dramatic fifth round, Dubois was momentarily stunned by two right hands, and just as Joshua looked to pile on the pressure, the 34-year-old was caught by successive right hands himself and he was down again, this time unable to beat the count.
Both fighters entered the ring intent on earning a shot at becoming undisputed world champion against Tyson Fury or Usyk, who became boxing's first four-belt undisputed heavyweight champion in May when he beat Fury, simultaneously holding the IBF title along with the WBO, WBC and WBA belts.
The Ukrainian agreed to a rematch with Fury rather than facing mandatory IBF challenger Dubois, who had won the interim IBF title in June and was elevated to world champion status when Usyk vacated the belt.
Joshua was hoping to join an elite group including Muhammad Ali, Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield as a three-time heavyweight champion.
Defeat to Andy Ruiz in 2019 and two losses at the hands of Usyk left his career on the brink. He then won four straight fights and was aiming to return to the division's top table.
Joshua hinted he would stay in the sport but he will have to do some soul-searching after the devastating loss at Wembley – a fourth defeat in 32 fights.
"We came up short as a team," he said. "You know I'm ready to kick off in the ring but I'm going to keep it respectful. Before I came here, I always say to myself I'm a fighter for life. You keep rolling the dice. I had a fast and sharp opponent, a lot of mistakes from my end."
And Hearn said he was "sure" his man would target a rematch. "I think that's a given," he said. "But he'll need a rest and it's a dangerous fight. This guy's growing in confidence all the time."
Sheeraz blasts out Denny to complete undercard
In the co-main event, Hamzah Sheeraz blasted out Tyler Denny inside two rounds to become the European middleweight champion and take a step closer to a world title shot.
Sheeraz sent Denny to the canvas in the opening round, and with the 33-year-old never fully recovering, struck again in the second before the referee stepped in and waved off the bout for his 21st victory.
Joshua Buatsi also took a significant step towards his own world title opportunity after defeating Willy Hutchinson to claim the WBO's light-heavyweight interim belt.
A close and competitive first half of the bout saw Buatsi eventually take control, sending Hutchinson to the deck in the sixth round and again in the ninth, although remarkably one judge still scored it 113-112 in the Scot's favour.
Buatsi earned wider scores of 117-108 and 115-110 from the other two judges to claim the split-decision victory to put himself in a position to challenge the 175-pound division's undisputed champion once Artur Beterbiev and Dimitrii Bivol fight for all the belts in Riyadh on October 12.
Anthony Cacace retained his IBF and IBO super-featherweight world titles with a wide points victory over former featherweight champion Josh Warrington, who indicated his retirement by placing his gloves on the centre of the ring.
Elsewhere, Josh Kelly weathered a late storm before claiming a majority-decision win over late replacement Ishmael Davis in a middleweight bout, while Mark Chamberlain suffered a surprise points loss to Josh Padley in the opening lightweight fight.
