Throughout his career, Daniel Dubois has been relentlessly dismissed as a quitter – so perhaps his fifth-round stoppage of Anthony Joshua will not even have been the most satisfying onslaught of the night.
Moments before sending AJ hurtling to the canvas, Dubois himself took serious punishment in the corner. That fractured eye socket against Joe Joyce and a pulverising defeat to Oleksandr Usyk might well have been flashing through his mind before he turned the tables with a decisive right hand.
Those final exchanges will give Joshua pause for thought too. Despite a first-round knockdown, only staying afloat via the ropes in the third, and another two slip-ups in the fourth, will his brief revival convince the former three-belt world champion he still has something left to give?
It should not. This was a greatly diminished Joshua who was not so much undone by a massive shot but consistently, painstakingly dismantled by his own vulnerability, leaving himself exposed and unable to keep up with the younger man’s pace.
One thing is for sure: Joshua’s star has not dimmed in the minds of the 96,000-strong record crowd that flocked to Wembley to see him. It is only a pity that for so long they have been starved of a glimpse of the man who has done more for British boxing in the 21st century than any other – three of his last seven fights have taken place in Saudi Arabia.
So it was little wonder this felt like such a gladiatorial occasion – but there was only one fighter seriously capable of doing battle. More fool us. The pundits readily admitted they “didn’t think Dubois had it in him”, not least because he has unfairly faced ridicule ever since that infamous decision to take a knee against Joyce for fear of permanently losing his eyesight.
Joshua and Dubois have had very different careers in that sense. After London 2012, under the tutelage of master marketer Eddie Hearn, the only way was up for AJ. He benefited from a dearth of real competition for some time, winning his first belt off Charles Martin in just his 16th professional fight. His face adorned billboards and buses, his anthem roared around the world and it took 23 fights before anyone was able to shatter the veneer of invincibility.
Had he ever got round to fighting Tyson Fury, the question of where he stands among the modern greats would have been answered more definitively but as it is, there will always be a cloud of uncertainty over his standing.
When he did take on Usyk, Joshua was beaten – twice. That was despite a considerable size advantage over the Ukrainian former cruiserweight. Some believed that would be the end but he has admirably fought on.
Still, all bouts since have had something of the anti-climax about them – a victory over Jermaine Franklin that went the distance, a knockout of the veteran Robert Helenius, stopping Otto Wallin and later pulverising MMA star Francis Ngannou.
These are not the heights Joshua’s army of supporters really want to see. It was only right that he was allowed a Wembley homecoming and he may get one more, depending on the venue for the rematch if he activates a clause in the contract to face Dubois again.
The future beyond that is bleak. Exhibitions, more fights in Saudi, a retirement tour ill-befitting of a superstar of Joshua’s calibre. It said it all that Dubois immediately talked up a redemption shot at Usyk, while a heavyweight who might once have been his idol was shunted to the sidelines to reflect on one of the most chastening nights of his career.
There were no histrionics this time, such as the unseemly fallout after coming up short in his second attempt against Usyk. The stakes were not so high this time, but it spoke too of a resignation that the writing is on the wall – even if Joshua is not ready to admit it just yet.
