Riyadh Season hit Wembley Stadium, and in front of 96,000 fans, and Daniel Dubois shook up the heavyweight division, as he knocked out Anthony Joshua in the fifth round to retain his IBF heavyweight title.
Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) was coming into this one off the back of a dominant second round win over Francis Ngannou in March, while Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) had elevated himself into a world champion thanks to a stunning eighth round stoppage of Filip Hrgovic for the interim IBF belt in June.
Dubois went on the attack from the first bell, attempting to blitz Joshua, and he worked well off the jab, and stunned the crowd by flooring Joshua heavily with a raking right hand at the end of the first round that landed right on the money.
The bell came to Joshua’s rescue, but Dubois went on the offence immediately in round two, wobbling ‘AJ’ again with a left hand, as well as several other heavily blows.
The fog finally cleared for Joshua towards the end of the round, but disaster struck again at the end of the third, as another heavy left scrambled Joshua’s legs, and he sought refuge on the canvas.
The two-time world champion was over again at the beginning of the fourth, and was all over the place, but admirably saw out the round. He then had his best spell of the fight, stunning Dubois with a right hand, only to walk into one of his own while on the attack, and he was flattened on impact.
The referee began to count, but Joshua was far from able to beat it, and the contest was over.
Sheeraz flattens Denny
Hamzah Sheeraz (21-0, 17 KOs) added the European middleweight title to his Commonwealth and WBC Silver belts, as he ruthlessly stopped Tyler Denny (19-3-3, 1 KO) in two rounds.
Denny was down within the first 15 seconds of the contest, and a sweeping left hand a round later had Denny out for the count, and unable to continue.
Buatsi grinds down Hutchinson
Joshua Buatsi (19-0, 13 KOs) took the interim WBO light heavyweight title, as he scored two knockdowns in a split decision win against Willy Hutchinson (18-2, 13 KOs).
An accumulation of chopping punches to head and body had Hutchinson on the canvas in the sixth, and the Scot was on the deck again in the ninth from another cluster of blows. Hutchinson was competitive, but looked nowhere a winner, especially having been deducted a point for use of the head in round seven, although one judge scored him a 113-112 winner, correctly overruled by scores of 117-108 and 115-110 in Buatsi’s favour.
Cacace retires Warrington
Anthony Cacace (23-1, 8 KOs) defended his IBO super featherweight title, and likely ended the long career of Josh Warrington (31-4, 8 KOs), as the Northern Irishman took a clear points win in their meeting.
It was a competitive clash, but Cacace was just one step a head in the main, and ran out a winner by two scores of 117-111, and a third tally at 118-110.
Warrington left his gloves in the ring post-fight, which is usually a sign of retirement.
Kelly outpoints Davis
Josh Kelly (16-1-1, 8 KOs) had to take on a late notice change of opponent, with Liam Smith ruled out, and he was tested by Ishmael Davis (13-1, 6 KOs), before coming through via majority decision in their middleweight contest.
Scores of 115-114 and 115-113 won the day for Kelly, with a third judge ruling the bout a 114-114 draw.
MD victory for @joshpbk 👏
He survives a late onslaught from Ishmael Davis to take the win – 114-114, 115-113, 115-114#KellyDavis #JoshuaDubois #RiyadhSeasonCard pic.twitter.com/rPTuAOda3N
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) September 21, 2024
There was a huge upset in the show opener, as Mark Chamberlain (16-1, 12 KOs) lost his unbeaten record with a points defeat over ten rounds against Josh Padley (15-0, 4 KOs). Padley scored a knockdown in the eighth round, and was declared the winner by two scores of 96-92, and a third at 95-93.
