“I am a fighter for life,” said Joshua in response to a corresponding question. “Today I rolled the dice and lost, but I will roll them again. I had a fast, strong opponent and I also made mistakes in the fight.” Shooting star Dubois, however, wants to continue writing his success story for a while. “I am a gladiator, I want to reach the top of this sport and develop my full potential,” said the 27-year-old, “this is my time now.”
Dubois went on the offensive in the first round, landing heavy blows and sending Joshua to the ground. This was repeated in the third and fourth rounds, and in the fifth Joshua seemed to be on the rise. He landed two hard right fists, sending Dubois reeling. Joshua now became more open, looking for the decisive blow – and then took one himself from a counterattack by Dubois.
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Joshua had been fighting to return to the top since losing the WBA, WBO and IBF belts to Alexander Usyk in 2021. He had previously surprisingly lost his titles to Andy Ruiz Jr. in 2019, but regained them the same year.
Dubois meanwhile confirmed his status as champion of the world association IBF with his 22nd victory in 24 fights. The 27-year-old was promoted to regular world champion in the summer after the previously undisputed world champion Usyk gave up his title in order to fight the big rematch against Tyson Fury at the end of the year. Dubois had previously won the IBF interim title in June with a victory against the Croatian Filip Hrgovic. “[Ich will] against all the best [kämpfen]maybe Usyk. But anyone can come,” he said.
Usyk and Fury will meet again on December 21st.
