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IT was the scene of his finest hour, a packed-out Wembley Stadium.
And, on Saturday night, it was the scene of what ought to be his final curtain call.
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GettyWhen Anthony Joshua defeated the great Wladimir Klitschko in an epic fight back in 2017, the Watford man looked destined for all-time greatness.
Yet after a ruthless demolition job from fellow Brit Daniel Dubois, Joshua is now surely finished as an elite heavyweight, having never touched the heights of genuine greatness.
He has been a very good fighter, with a great business model. And he should now retire as an extremely wealthy man.
Joshua normalised massive stadium fights in Britain and then, not satisfied with the riches harvested from four successive victories in front of full houses at Wembley and Cardiff, he became the first elite boxer to get into bed with the Saudis.
On Saturday night we witnessed two boxers from either side of London contesting the IBF world heavyweight title at Wembley as part of something called ‘Riyadh Season’, after the playing of the Saudi national anthem.
The takeover of elite boxing by that oppressive human-rights-abusing Middle Eastern regime was complete – and it had been started by Joshua agreeing to fight Andy Ruiz Jr in Riyadh in 2019, to avenge his first professional defeat and become world champion for a second time.
But ever since that thrilling victory over Klitschko – one of the Ukrainian brothers who ruled the heavyweights division for decade, but a man who had already been dethroned by Tyson Fury – we have been waiting for Joshua to fight the Gypsy King in what would have been the biggest fight in British history.
Saudi wealth has bashed together the heads of promoters Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren and would have allowed AJ-Fury to happen.
'Are you not entertained? I'm a gladiator' - What Dubois and Joshua said after brutal fight
DANIEL DUBOIS annihilated Anthony Joshua’s dream of becoming a three-time world heavyweight champion, writes Wally Downes Jr.
Joshua was floored FOUR times as Dubois landed an astonishing fifth-round knockout in front of a record 96,000 Wembley crowd and millions of TV viewers to retain his IBF belt.
AJ, 34, never recovered after being downed in the first round of last night’s Battle of Britain showdown as a huge Dubois right-hand haymaker caught him flush on the chin.
Here’s what they said after the fight:
DANIEL DUBOIS
“Are you not entertained? I’m a gladiator, a warrior to the bitter end. This is the biggest win of my career. I couldn’t let this opportunity go and now I want to go to the top level of this game.
“I’ve been on a roller-coaster ride and this is my time. I’m not gonna stop until I reach my full potential.”
ANTHONY JOSHUA
“As p***ed off as I am, it is what it is.
“I had a sharp, fast opponent and there were a lot of mistakes from me. Credit to my opponent and his team.
“We rolled the dice and came up short. You know I’m p***ed but I’m going to keep cool and give respect to my opponent.”
FRANK WARREN (DUBOIS’ PROMOTER)
“It was a phenomenal fight, like Hagler v Hearns.
“A brilliant fight and everybody has seen a champion’s performance tonight.
“Daniel has shown his courage, his skills.
“AJ caught him with a shot towards the end and I was worried, but what a fabulous, fantastic fight.”
EDDIE HEARN (AJ’S PROMOTER)
“AJ shipped a huge right hand in the first round and was fighting on heart.
“He hurt Daniel at the end of the fourth and then again in the fifth, but got greedy and walked on to a right hand and that’s all she wrote.
“I’m sure Anthony will exercise the rematch clause.”
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But now that contest – which had been lined up for the umpteenth time for next spring – looks dead in the water.
And if it does ever happen, it will be several years too late – in the manner of Floyd Mayweather’s underwhelming points victory over Manny Pacquiao when both were way past their prime.
Joshua, who turns 35 next month, was handed the beating of his life by the 27-year-old Dubois on Saturday – never recovering from the crushing over-the-top right which decked him at the end of the opening round.
And even Hearn – the promoter who has masterminded Joshua’s lucrative career – was openly speculating on whether enough might be enough.
Hearn said: “Our interests are to make sure he leaves this sport with a legacy, a huge amount of money but also with his health intact.
“If you start getting knocked out like that, you certainly have to look at things.
“You never want to carry on too long, but at the same time AJ is a heavyweight who doesn’t actually have many miles on the clock.
“Fighters sometimes need saving from themselves but AJ is a smart guy.
“We’ve seen the best of AJ over the last year. It’s difficult to say that, just because he got chinned tonight, that’s it.
“But he’s in the closing chapters of his career, there’s no doubt about that.
“Now we have another fight with Riyadh season and Turki Alalshikh and (a rematch with) Daniel Dubois is part of that plan, but so too could be Tyson Fury or another heavyweight.”
Would there be any intrigue in watching Joshua fight Fury now?
Fury is clearly a vastly superior all-round boxer, whether or not he wins back his own world-title belts from Oleksandr Usyk in Riyadh in December.
Round by round: How Dubois demolished Joshua
ANTHONY JOSHUA bravely picked himself up from the floor against Daniel Dubois – until he could no more.
AJ was floored four times in five rounds by Dubois before a thudding counter right closed the show in dramatic fashion.
Here, SunSport’s Jack Figg takes you round-by-round from the Wembley war.
ROUND 1
Dubois comes out sharp with the jab as Joshua bounces around struggling to deal with the piston-like left.
Huge right hand from Dubois has AJ staggering backwards with his hands far too low from the opening bell.
Joshua made to pay for the mistake as he circles out with his hands down and gets dropped by an overhand right.
ROUND 2
Joshua – saved only by the bell after being floored – struggles to get going as he takes shots to the face.
AJ is tottering and teetering around the ring with his guard again dangerously low and inviting pressure on.
Joshua is attempting to get back into the bout but his jab looks far too lazy – he doesn’t look to have recovered from the knockdown.
ROUND 3
AJ comes out with more intent but swings wildly with a right and connects with only thin air.
Dubois pours on the pressure and hammers Joshua into the corner scoring another knockdown.
The bell sounds but Dubois lands one or two afterwards – again AJ is saved by the clock as the writing looks on the wall.
ROUND 4
Disaster strikes again with Joshua floored once more – losing his balance as he touches the canvas.
The referee gives AJ another fighting chance and Dubois lands a low blow – giving the challenger some valuable respite.
Dubois slows down as four rounds come to a close with Joshua showing sensational resilience to hang in there.
ROUND 5
Joshua lands a huge right hand and Dubois legs buckle – an astonishing turnaround looks to be on the cards.
AJ pins Dubois onto the ropes and attempts one of his signature uppercuts but the countering right hand gets there first.
Joshua is caught flush on the chin, dropped once more and this time out for good. Dubois scores a stunning KO win.
And likewise, is there much mileage in a rematch with Dubois when Saturday night’s bout produced such a convincing victory for the younger man?
In the immediate aftermath of his fourth, and most brutal, defeat, Joshua was adamant that he wants to continue.
He said: “People will ask if I still want to continue fighting. Of course I want to continue fighting.
“We took a shot at success and came up short – what does that mean now?
“That we will run away? Or are we going to live to fight another day? I am a warrior.”
As an Olympic gold medalist, a two-time world heavyweight champion and a national treasure, who has earned almost a quarter of a billion pounds, Joshua can be proud of his career.
But he now enters the dangerous territory of the ageing fighter seeking one final payday.
To watch him fight on against Dubois until the fifth round, after such a concussive early knock-down, was to witness a courage which bordered on recklessness.
Now the truly courageous route for Joshua would be to leave his lethal trade while there is still money to be earned – so that he is still healthy enough to enjoy his immense wealth.
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