Current heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois has had some impressive showings in recent years.
With a knockout win over Anthony Joshua, Dubois was able to retain his IBF World Heavyweight title in September 2024. Now, Dubois may face Oleksandr Usyk in a highly anticipated rematch.
‘DDD’ currently has a professional record of 22-2. His second-ever professional loss came in his first meeting with Usyk.
However, years prior to meeting the Ukrainian, Dubois suffered the first defeat of his career.
Daniel Dubois suffered his first loss to Joe Joyce in 2020
In November 2020, Dubois would come up against fellow British heavyweight Joe Joyce.
Dubois would go into the bout with an unbeaten 15-0 record, with Joyce having been successful in all 11 of his fights. The pair fought in London, as Dubois tasted defeat for the first time.
Olympic silver medalist Joyce would be the victor of the fight following an injury to the eye of Dubois. As his eye began to swell thanks to the jab of Joyce, the damage began to worsen as the rounds progressed.
Dubois landed significant shots on Joyce, however, he proved his chin strength in the bout. Eventually, in the 10th round, the damage to Dubois’ eye was too bad to continue. Taking a voluntary knee, he was counted out of the fight.
Joyce extended his record to 12-0, as he had an underdog victory. He would go on to win his next three fights, which included Joyce knocking out Joseph Parker, before being stopped in back-to-back meetings with Zhilei Zhang.
Daniel Dubois bounced back from first loss with four stoppage wins
Dubois would return to the ring for the first time after his loss in June 2021. Taking on Romanian boxer Bogdan Dinu (20-2), the Englishman would bounce back with a second-round knockout.
Fighting for a second time in 2021, Dubois would one-up his previous outing. This time, Dubois would score a first-round knockout over Joe Cusumano (19-3).
2022 would see Dubois add two more knockouts to his record. He would defeat Trevor Bryan (22-0) and Kevin Lerena (28-1) via fourth and third-round knockouts respectively.
His impressive finishing streak would set up his meeting with heavyweight champion Usyk. However, Dubois would be defeated by Usyk in a bout that contained some controversy due to a low blow.