CHIN? CHECKED✅: DYNAMITE DUBOIS DETONATES RIGHT HAND TO KO JOSHUA AT WEMBLEY!

What a fight! Five brutal and bruising rounds for longtime Heavyweight ruler Anthony Joshua as IBF Heavyweight World Champion Daniel Dynamite Dubois defended his title in the most emphatic fashion. A battle that will live long in the memory and one that may have signalled the beginning of a new era in the heavyweight division. Is AJ's time up? Is Daniel Dubois' time right now? The answer, for now, was seen in front of 96,000+ crowd.

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The stage was set for what looked to be an epic spectacle. The Riyadh Season card took its attraction to London, England. The main event was headlined by none other than former two time world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua. In pursuit of his third world title reign, he challenged the destructive IBF world champion Daniel 'Dynamite' Dubois in an all British heavyweight clash. Two power punchers who recently found their form after both losing to unifed champion Oleksandr Usyk, this fight would make clear who really amongst the elite in the division.

Due to the pedigree of Joshua's career and his recent run of KO victories, it made sense why Joshua was the favourite going into the fight. A lot of fans believed this would be the type of that could catapult AJ back into elite level status as a Heavyweight contender. However, Dubois was never here just to make up the numbers. An opportunity to perform in a big fight against Anthony Joshua is something Dubois has been waiting for since he was 17. Now, 10 years on and a reigning world champion, Daniel Dubois was not ever going to let this moment slip.

From the opening bell, Dubois flew out of the blocks like a starving race horse. Hungry to make this moment his own, Dubois wasted no time imposing himself on the challenger. Joshua, on the other hand, looked like he was caught cold. Immediately on the back foot, hands low and no real intent to throw meaningful punches. Joshua is usually a man made for the moment, but on this occasion he was in the ring with someone who simply wanted it more than him. After a tenative start from AJ, both men missed with big right hooks. And in the final seconds of the first round...BOOM!

Anthony Joshua was caught with a bomb. The stadium erupted after Joshua almost got folded. Clearly rocked and losing his balance, Joshua beat the count and saw the end of the round. It was a horrible start to his world title challenge and Dubois captilised on Joshua's casual defence. Joshua started the second round a little faster, maybe out of desperation, but clearly had not recovered from the earlier knockdown. Dubois remained relentless in his pursuit and was just overwhelming his opponent with his strength and power punches.

Joshua was slightly more on the front foot in the third round, however Dubois still had the clear advantage in terms of hand speed. It's rare that an opponent of Anthony Joshua has faster hands than him, but when they do, they usually win. Again, both fighters exchanged right hands that narrowly missed the target. This time Dubois immediately followed up with a left hand that rocked Joshua. Joshua stumbled back into the ropes and Dubois rushed with a flurry of punches. As Joshua's glove briefly touched the canvas, a knockdown should have started. The ref did not acknowledge this and allowed Dubois to continue his onslaught until the end of round, leaving Joshua piled up in the ropes. The ref decided to start the count at the end of the round.

Joshua was feeling the effects of the previous rounds and his balance was all over the place. To start the fourth round, Dubois attempted to apply more pressure, but Joshua fell to the ground. No punch was landed but the ref started another count, clearly overcompensating for his mistake in the previous round. AJ stumbled once more in the fourth, in a round that probably felt longer than usual, it was not pretty viewing for the thousands of AJ fans in attendance. The fifth round was Joshua's best round. Much more alert and willing to enforce his own physicality on the fight. After landing a vintage right hand, it looked like it could the start of one of the greatest comebacks in heavyweight boxing history. Dubois was on the back foot for the first time, with Joshua desperately pursuing this wounded beast. After throwing two more spiteful rights, AJ went to throw an uppercut and was timed with a doomsday response from Dubois. Joshua crashed to the canvas for the final time, there was no way he was getting up, even though he did try. The fight was over. Wow.

Over 90,000 fans just witnessed a heavyweight showdown that will be replayed for years ahead. The magnitude of the event was more than matched, if not exceeded, by the main event. Dubois retains his IBF world title and fully legitamised his title reign. Referring to himself as the King Slayer, he did exactly that. Now following such a great performance, the upcoming heavyweight era could be the era of Daniel Dubois. More victories of this magnitude will help estabish that case, but has given himself a great foundation after securing the biggest win of his career.

As for Joshua, it is unsure what's next for the two-time unified heavyweight world champion. Many have called for him to retire but I think this the wrong response. He lost to a hungry, hard-hitter who is performing better than he ever has in his physical peak. Joshua is capable of beating Dubois, but has to ask if he really wants to be in that type of fire. If he does, lace 'em up and go again. It is unlikely to be an immediate rematch but I would love to see AJ in the ring with opponents in around that calibre. Andy Ruiz trilogy? Former Dubois opponent and long time rival Jarrell Miller? Joshua still has a lot of options, but what option does he want to take?

- AE