Daniel Dubois reveals thoughts from fifth-round shootout with Anthony Joshua

‘AJ’ appeared to stun Dubois with a pair of right hands, just seconds before suffering a knockout blow

Daniel Dubois has revealed he ‘loved’ his back-and-forth exchange with Anthony Joshua in the moments before their fight ended.

Dubois dropped Joshua several times en route to victory in September, but in the seconds before “Dynamite” knocked out “AJ” in round five, the latter appeared to stun Dubois with a pair of right hands.

Joshua, 34, seemingly sensed that a comeback win was on the cards and went for the finish, only to be faceplanted by Dubois’s own right hand. With that, Dubois secured victory and retained the IBF heavyweight title.

Reflecting on those scintillating moments at Wembley Stadium, Dubois told Seconds Out: “No one said it was gonna be easy. I had to slay the king, so I had to come through whatever fire he was bringing at me.

“I love those sort of match-ups, where we’re just letting our hands go – back and forth, roll the dice, gun-slinging. It was really exciting for me, to be honest.”

Dubois, 27, handed Joshua the fourth defeat of his career, following AJ’s TKO loss to Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019 and points defeats by Oleksandr Usyk in 2022 and 2023.

Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, revealed after September’s bout that Joshua has a rematch clause. However, it remains unclear whether the former two-time world champion will activate that clause.

Discussing that possibility this week, Hearn told Sky Sports: “When you start actually thinking about it, I don’t think there’s a bad decision to make. I know that he is leaning towards the rematch, because he wants to win the world heavyweight title – versus fighting [Deontay] Wilder, waiting for [Tyson] Fury, and then you’ve got all next year bubbling around, not really fighting for the world heavyweight title.

Daniel Dubois (left) and Anthony Joshua trade blows at Wembley Stadium (Getty Images)

“If it’s solely down to AJ, which it will be at the end of the day, I think it’s going to be very hard to talk him out of taking the rematch.”

Joshua has long been linked with Wilder and Fury, but both match-ups have proven elusive over the past decade. When Joshua and Wilder shared a fight card in December, victories for both men would have ensured a fight between them, but Wilder was outpointed by Joseph Parker as Joshua beat Otto Wallin.

If Joshua had beaten Dubois, the 34-year-old would likely have been paired with the winner of Fury’s upcoming rematch with Usyk.

Usyk outpointed Fury in May to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion in 24 years, and the unified belts will be on the line in their December rematch – after Usyk vacated the IBF title, which Dubois now holds.

Dubois scores the fourth and final knockdown of Joshua (PA Wire)

Dubois could therefore be next for the winner of Fury vs Usyk 2, but the Briton told Seconds Out he is also open to a rematch with Joshua.

“The future is now ‘what’s next?’” Dubois said. “We’re making plans for what we’re gonna do now. I’ve heard AJ wants the rematch. We’ll see. If he wants it, I want it, too.

“We came out on top on the night, I was the better man on the night, but there’s no disrespect. I’m not gonna badmouth him or anything. It was a great fight and if we can do it again, it’ll be even bigger.

“Without giving too much away, I think I’d be more up for it: more belief in myself. I was up for it, but more controlled, more speed, everything. AJ as well, he’ll bring it and come to win like he did last time, but I just feel like it’s my time. Being a world champion, having the IBF belt, it’s just the icing on the cake. I need to keep this run going.”