In front of a massive crowd, IBF heavyweight titlist Daniel Dubois knocked out the highly-favored Anthony Joshua and left no doubt on Saturday who’s the best British boxer.

No doubt.

London’s own Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) left 96,000 fans shocked with a dominant and decisive victory over Britain’s popular Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) at Wembley Stadium in London.

Among those in the crowd were champions Terence Crawford, Conor McGregor and Oleksandr Usyk.

It didn’t take long for Dubois to display an aggressive attack behind a ramrod jab and superior defensive technique. An overhand right connected and down went Joshua as the crowd gasped. The former champion beat the count at the end of the bell.

Dubois, 27, opened up the second round with an array of punches as Joshua somehow survived. Though under attack, Joshua did return fire and that kept his opponent from unloading.

But it was apparent that Dubois had a better chin than Joshua at this point.

In the third round Dubois connected with another right that seemed to throttle Joshua. A lead right followed by a very stiff left jab snapped Joshua’s head back. Joshua returned with four stiff jabs of his own, but his adversary connected with another right cross and then a left hook that shook Joshua. Dubois opened fire with nearly a dozen blows and down went Joshua again. He beat the count again. Barely.

It appeared that one more big blow might end the night.

Dubois moved in aggressively and after a short combination down went Joshua. But the referee ruled it was a slip. The heavyweight fight continued as Joshua grabbed the aggressive Dubois after every combination. It seemed Dubois might be tiring or that Joshua was setting a trap. Near the end of the round, you could see Joshua looking to time his opponent.

In the fifth round a more aggressive Joshua with seemingly fresher legs came out to meet Dubois. Both fighters looked aggressive with Joshua opening up with combinations. After a slight pause both engaged and both connected with Dubois’ stronger rights and lefts depositing Joshua to the floor a fourth time and seemingly unconscious. The referee counted Joshua out at 59 seconds into the fifth round.

Fans let their emotions show with mouths open and hands over their heads. The victor seemed the only calm soul in the arena.

“This is my redemption story,” said Dubois.

It was only a year ago that he was called a quitter in a loss to Oleksandr Usyk. Most ignored the fact that Dubois should have been called the winner when he floored Usyk with a body shot. The referee erroneously ruled it a low blow. Replays showed the punch was on the belt. Not on the groin.

Despite that showing against Usyk, and knockout wins over Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller and Filip Hrgovic, he was dismissed as a mere opponent to showcase Joshua.

“We rolled the dice and came up short,” said the always classy Joshua. “Give respect to my opponent.”

Indeed.

Frank Warren, who promotes Dubois, said that his fighter could return as soon as December.

Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn, who promotes 34-year-old Joshua, said they have a rematch clause.

When Dubois was asked his next choice, he replied: “maybe Usyk. Or whoever wants it, you can come get it.”

Indeed.

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Jaime Munguia Stops Erik Bazinyan on a Show with a Shocking Upset on the Undercard

Top Rank was at the Desert Diamond Arena in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona, tonight with a 10-bout card topped by a 12-round super middleweight contest between Jamie Munguia and Erik Bazinyan. A former world title-holder at 154 pounds, Munguia was making his first start since taking Canelo Alvarez the distance this past May.

Tijuana’s Munguia, who had Hall of Famer Erik Morales in his corner, emerged victorious, advancing his record to 44-1 (35 KOs) with a 10^th-round stoppage. It was the first pro loss for Bazinyan (32-1-1), a native of Armenia who trains in the same Quebec gym with Artur Beterbiev and Christian Mbilli.

Using his jab effectively, Bazinyan appeared to be slightly ahead after five frames. Munguia had a strong sixth round and had more steam on his punches as the fight progressed. In the 10^th, he stunned Bazinyan with a left uppercut and then stormed after him, nailing the Armenian with a barrage of punches that knocked him to all fours, unable to beat the count of referee Tom Taylor. The official time was 2:36 of round 10.

Co-Main

Richard Torrez Jr continued his ascent up the heavyweight ladder when veteran Joey “Tank” Dawejko was disqualified in the fifth round after spitting out his mouthpiece for the fifth time. Torrez, with his high-octane, herky-jerky attack, had won every round prior to the stoppage including a 10-7 round without a knockdown in the fourth stanza when Dawejko had two points deducted for mouthpiece infractions. It was the eleventh straight win for Tulare, California’s Torrez, a silver medalist at the Tokyo Olympics.

The official time was 2:02 of round five. Dawejko, who had been staying busy competing for the Philadelphia entry in the Team Combat League, declined to 28-12-4.

In the opener on the main ESPN platform, fast-rising 20-year-old junior welterweight Emiliano Vargas scored a fifth-round stoppage over intrepid Larry Fryers. A straight left put Fryers on the canvas and referee Raul Caiz Jr – aware that Fryers’ corner had him on a short leash – waived the fight off immediately. The official time was 1:23 of round five.

Vargas, the best of three fighting sons of former Olympian and two-weight title-holder “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas, improved to 12-0 with his tenth win inside the distance. Fryers, a 34-year-old father of four from Albany, New York, via Clones, Ireland, falls to 13-7-1.

Undercard

In the last of the prelims on ESPN+, super featherweight Charly Suarez, a 36-year-old Filipino with a wealth of international amateur experience, scored a third-round TKO over Jorge Castaneda. Suarez, ranked #6 by the WBO and IBF, hurt Castaneda and put him on the canvas with a left hook. When the bout resumed, Suarez went for the kill and forced the stoppage at the 2:22 mark. Suarez (18-0, 10 KOs) has yet to lose at the pro level. Castaneda (17-4) was a late sub for Andres Cortes who suffered an undisclosed injury in training.

Shocking Upset

Undefeated and fast rising Alan “Kid Kansas” Garcia, a 21-year-old lightweight, was seemingly matched against the perfect B-side opponent in seemingly feather-fisted Ricardo Fernandez, a native of Bolivia who brought 15-13 record but would be giving up four inches in height and had registered only one win by stoppage in his entire career. Things were going well for Garcia who was comfortably ahead through four-plus rounds until he forgot to duck and was knocked into dreamland with a looping right hand.

Kid Kansas crashed to the canvas under the lower strand of rope and the “10-count” issued by referee Raul Caiz Jr was just a formality. The official time was 2:25 of round five.

Also

Las Vegas native Demler “DJ” Zamora III, a 21-year-old Filipino-American lightweight, won a wide decision over Argentina’s Gerardo Antonio Perez, winning by tallies of 79-73 and 80-72 twice to improve his ledger to 14-0 (9). The scores were misleading as this was a spirited battle.

A protégé of the late Roger Mayweather, Zamora has fast hands and is very fluid, but needs to tighten his defense. Perez (12-6-1) has a fight booked next month in Panama City, Panama.

Junior bantamweight Steven Navarro, a blue-chip prospect from Los Angeles, blew away overmatched Oscar Arroyo who was on the canvas twice before the match was halted at the 2:35 mark of round three. Navarro (4-0, 3 KOs); Arroyo, a Nicaraguan residing in West Hempstead, NY, declined to 3-3.

A super welterweight contest slated for “10” was over in 46 seconds. Jorge Garcia, a 27-year-old Mexican, caved in Ilias Essaoudi with a right hook to the rib cage. He followed up with thee more punches as Essaoudi was on his way down. A 34-year-old German making his U.S. debut, Essaoudi was counted out on his knees, grimacing in pain. It was the 31^st win in 35 starts for the heavy-handed Garcia, who is big for the weight class. It was the U.S. debut for Essaoudi (22-3).

In the lid-lifter, a super bantamweight contest slated for eight rounds, youth prevailed as 23-year-old Tijuana prospect Sebastian Hernandez advanced to 17-0 (16) at the expense of 38-year-old Venezuelan journeyman Yonfrez Parejo (24-7-1) whose corner pulled him out after four one-sided stanzas.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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A raucous sold-out Irish crowd saw Callum “King” Walsh return to native soil and quickly decimate Poland’s Przemyslaw Runowski by knockout to retain a regional title in Dublin, Ireland on Thursday.

“Once you get hit by me, game over,” said Walsh.

Walsh (12-0, 10 KOs) showed more than 8,000 fans in Ireland why he is highly ranked as a super welterweight with a two-round knockout of Runowski (22-3-1, 6 KOs) at the 3Arena Dublin.

It was Walsh’s first pro fight in Ireland.

On a 360 Promotion fight card that featured mostly native Irish fighters, it was Walsh who fans paid to see after reading about his exploits in the USA. Led by world class trainer Freddie Roach, the native Irish super welterweight walked into the arena to a loud roar.

After introductions, a calm but stern Walsh went to work against the veteran Polish fighter who had never been knocked out in a pro fight in 25 pro bouts.

The southpaw Walsh went to work stoically with right hook body shots and connected with a long left cross that buckled the Polish fighter in the first round. It was evident that the bleached-blonde fighter’s power was real.

In the second round Runowski was intent on gaining respect from Walsh. He fired his own blows and Walsh fired back. During a quick exchange Walsh connected with a right hook and a left. Down went Runowski from the blast and the referee counted to 10.

It was over at 2:06 of the second round.

“He had never been stopped until he got hit my me,” Walsh said following the stoppage. “I just hit too hard.”

The native of Cork, Ireland also said that his mentor, Dana White of UFC, wants to do future fight cards in Ireland, that had not seen boxing for several years until recently.

“Dana said we’re coming back. This sealed the deal,” said Walsh. “We’ll bring this Irish crowd and we’ll take over the world.”

Other Bouts

Ali Akhmedov (22-1, 16 KOs) managed to eke out a split-decision win over France’s Pierre Dibombe (22-2-1, 12 KOs) after 10 rounds in a super middleweight fight. Despite a knockdown in the eighth round, Akhmedov rallied to a win.

Irish Olympian Emmett Brennan (4-0) won by split decision over Kevin Cronin (8-2-1) in a very close inside super middleweight fight.

Heavyweight Thomas Carty (9-0, 8 KOs) knocked down Jonathan Vergara (6-2) twice with body shots before ending the fight by knockout with a left to the head at 2:59 of the second round.

“When I start putting my combinations together people hit the deck,” Carty said.

An entertaining Irish super welterweight title fight saw Craig O’Brien (15-3) out-punch Edward Donovan (7-1) to win a technical split decision after six rounds of a scheduled eight round fight. A cut over Donovan’s eye forced a premature decision.

In a female lightweight fight, Ireland’s Shauna O’Keefe (3-0, 2 KOs) won by knockout over Iceland’s very tough Valgerdur Gudstensdottir (7-6) in the fourth round. The southpaw O’Keefe showed strong and accurate two-fisted punching and ended the match at 1:45 of the fourth round.

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