Daniel Dubois targets Oleksandr Usyk, undisputed glory and putting ‘the wrong right’

Daniel Dubois had landed the most memorable punch in recent British boxing history to terminate his world title clash with Anthony Joshua.

Shortly before 1am, rain began to patter down on Wembley Stadium. It would grow heavier and heavier, as a storm passed over London.

The final press conference had finished, the last fighters and their entourages were making their way out to the road and, surely, the Anthony Joshua era in British boxing was coming to its end, while somewhere Daniel Dubois was celebrating the greatest night of his boxing life.

Dubois had been extraordinary. He was meant to be the callow youngster against Anthony Joshua, a seasoned former two-time heavyweight world champion and a long-serving superstar in the sport.

Joshua was the one who was used to headlining at stadia, he was at home there even with a record crowd in attendance.

Dubois was expected to struggle with the rigmarole of a super-fight promotion, with ringwalking first, with the long wait in the ring as Joshua processed through his entrance.

Dubois was known to be a hard puncher, but Joshua was a knockout artist himself and a physical match, it was thought, for anyone in the division.

But Joshua isn’t only a heavy hitter. He can be cerebral, mobile and maintained he had a psychological edge over his rival.

Dubois however made sure none of that mattered. As determined as Joshua was, Dubois wanted the win just as much.

He seized control from the start and took the fight exactly where he wanted it – straight to Joshua. Dubois seized the centre of the ring. He went on the front foot, he went on the warpath really, and put Joshua on the backfoot. Solid jabs, crisp, clean and heavy, thudded in from Dubois.

He measured out Joshua, didn’t keep his own head static, and decided it all with booming right crosses that, in the heat of the moment, felt like they could have knocked a hole in a London bus.

Dubois used that right hand to force Joshua to answer the same questions that had hounded him ever since his loss to Joe Joyce. Did he have the fortitude for this dark trade?

Joshua did provide an answer to that. His technique was deserting him, his tactics were wayward, maybe even his physical qualities were eroding. But he didn’t lack the appetite for a fight.

The first knockdown, at the end of the opening round, almost severed him from his senses. The way his limbs loosened and his body sagged to the canvas, greeted by an astonished, howling roar from that huge Wembley crowd, Joshua was plunged deep into an unfolding disaster.

It was remarkable then that he managed to fight through to the fifth round. He was almost out for the referee’s count at the end of the third round, yet he threw himself back at Dubois. Yet another visit to the canvas didn’t dissuade him. In dire straits, Joshua was desperate. That meant, after landing a brace of good crosses, he hurled a wild punch, that he dug out from somewhere, hoping it could save him.

But in this moment, Dubois didn’t need to worry, he didn’t even have to think. He just did what he had to. He fired his right second and landed it first.

That bombed Joshua down, sprawled out on the canvas.

It was the final touch on Dubois’ great moment. Joshua couldn’t rise, he couldn’t bring his body back under control. Even then he contorted upwards but, his head still rooted to the ringboards, he couldn’t prise himself off the deck.

That was everything for Dubois. “I became Daniel in the Lion’s Den and I had to come through that. I was unstoppable tonight,” he said.

“He could have thrown everything at me and I would have come through it.

“He was going to have to nail me to that canvas,” he added. “It was a good firefight, I just enjoyed it. I enjoyed the whole moment, winning and coming through and fulfilling my potential, tonight anyway.”

It couldn’t have gone any better for him. “It felt almost like a dream for me tonight in the ring. I just had to seize the moment,” he said.

“They were all saying I was going to get knocked out. We all saw who got knocked out. I did the business and I’m glad I proved everyone wrong. This is the start of my journey.”

His point had been made in the ring. “That’s all I have to say,” he declared, banging on the table with a smile to close his argument.

Oleksandr Usyk, who had to vacate the IBF belt, allowing Dubois to pick up that world championship, remains the unified WBO, WBA and WBC world titlist.

He is due to rematch Tyson Fury later this year. But this new Dubois, whose confidence will now be at an all-time high, wants to avenge his most recent defeat. He is targeting another fight with Usyk.

“I want to get my rematch and to put the wrong right,” Dubois said.

He does want ultimately to take part in an undisputed heavyweight world title fight. That could come against the Usyk-Fury rematch winner.

Dubois’ promoter Frank Warren also co-promotes Tyson Fury. While he is backing Fury to beat Usyk in their December 21 rematch, he would be conflicted about making a fight between him and Dubois because he represents both.

“I’m going to be in a very, very awkward position to do that so I’m not going to lie about that. Because I really would struggle with that,” he said.

“But if they wanted it and the business called for it then that’s up to them. That’s not something that I would push for personally. If there’s an offer made that makes a lot of sense then that’s up to them.”

Undoubtedly Dubois has now catapulted himself into the frame with the very best of the division. “It feels great. I feel like the champ. I’m going to keep this belt, just keep this train running,” he warned.

“So on we go.”