Daniel Dubois hasn’t got the credit he deserves for seven trivial reasons

Fallout from the Wembley fight has clouded the fact that Anthony Joshua’s brutal conqueror Daniel Dubois has the potential to be one of the all-time heavyweight greats

Daniel Dubois produced a masterpiece of a knockout punch to beat Anthony Joshua but has kept a low profile since the epic win (
Image: PA)

Less than a week after one of the most explosive performances from a British heavyweight in many years, last Saturday’s events at Wembley are still the talk of sport, certainly the talk of boxing.

Why was the Saudi Arabian national anthem sung? What will Anthony Joshua – beaten for the fourth time in his professional career – do next? How much money is AJ’s defeat going to cost Tyson Fury?

Who fawned over Turki Alalshikh – sorry, His Excellency – to greater effect? Eddie Hearn? Or Frank Warren? Are you going to sell your Oasis tickets after that 10 minutes of shouting from Liam Gallagher? How come there was no-one REALLY famous at ringside?

Yep, these are the issues that continue to burn, along with a rant from Chris Eubank Junior – labelling Hearn and Warren ‘scumbags’ – which he swiftly retracted and apologised for. Politics, bad-mouthing, conspiracy theories, money – dirty or otherwise – will always be boxing’s bedfellows. That’s the nature of the business.

But in this instance, they have done boxing a grave disservice by taking the spotlight away from a landmark sporting performance. So, just in case you had not noticed – amidst the nonsense listed above – here is what British sport has now got.

A 27-year-old world heavyweight champion who is moving towards, rather than away from, the peak of his frightening powers. A fighter who, considering the age bracket of his main rivals, has the potential to dominate boxing’s blue riband division for some considerable time.

An underdog who not only dismantled a two-times world champion in just over four rounds but finished proceedings with what can only be described as a masterpiece of a punch. A character who has had to win a mental battle after being labelled a ‘quitter’ following his defeat to Joe Joyce, an allegation that some repeated after he was beaten by Oleksandr Usyk.

Turki Alalshikh looks on as the national anthem of Saudi Arabia is sung ( 
Image:
Getty Images)
British sport has got a bona fide superstar in Daniel Dubois. The problem, I guess, is that Dubois does not say much. He is certainly not as media-savvy as Joshua and is certainly not as loud-mouthed and as brash as Tyson Fury.

There will be no fly-on-the-wall reality stuff with the Dubois family, as interesting and intriguing as they are. Dubois clearly likes it that way. In terms of the media coverage of the fallout and ramifications from Saturday’s contest, Dubois has, pretty much, been noticeable only by his absence.

To coin an old-fashioned cliché, this is clearly a guy who lets his gloves do the talking, but that should not dilute the significance and brilliance of his achievement. And it WAS a statement performance.

Daniel Dubois after beating Anthony Joshua
While Fury might have been annoyed that a ludicrously lucrative potential pay-day against Joshua was put in doubt, he might also have been wondering what his chances would be against a phenomenally powerful boxer still honing his craft and nine years his junior. Usyk – nine and a half years older than Dubois – would also have left Wembley, knowing that the IBF champion would be a fearsome proposition in a rematch.

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Right now, the sporting public’s feeling towards Dubois seems to be one of indifference, despite his stellar display against Joshua. Let’s put it this way, someone who retained his world title with such a display in front of a record crowd would normally be mentioned in connection with the Sports Personality of the Year award.

According to the bookmakers, Ben Ainslie and Jack Draper have better chances of winning it than Dubois has. But when he legitimised his IBF title, Dubois confirmed himself as only the 10th British fighter to hold a world heavyweight championship belt. To follow his journey from here should be one of the most fascinating narratives in current British sport.

In one of his few utterances after knocking Joshua out, Dubois said: “This is my time.” And if you look past all the toxic nonsense that is boxing’s speciality, you will see he is right.