- Anthony Joshua suffered a KO loss to Daniel Dubois in the fifth round.
- Just seconds before the fatal blow, Joshua was seen sticking out his tongue.
- Many fans took to social media to accuse Joshua of taunting the crowd, however, his trainer provided the real reason behind his actions.
Daniel Dubois landed a fifth-round knockout blow to stun Anthony Joshua and the 96,000-strong crowd at Wembley on Saturday night.
The 34-year-old was sent flying by Dubois in the fifth round after being knocked down three times earlier in the previous rounds.
Joshua looked less focused than his opponent from the start and in the fifth round he was seen looking at the crowd and sticking his tongue out moments before being knocked out by his opponent’s right hand.
In the video posted by TNT Sports, Joshua can be seen turning his head towards the crowd and sticking out his tongue as the referee separates the two heavyweights.
Many social media users were quick to accuse the boxing veteran of taunting the crowd, however, his trainer Ben Davison was quick to dispel these rumours and give the real explanation.
Joshua was seen sticking his tongue out at the crowd moments before being knocked out in the fifth round.
Daniel Dubois retained the IBF heavyweight title after Joshua failed to recover from his lethal right hand in the fifth round.
When asked about the viral clip, Davison explained in his post-fight press conference that:
‘YO I was asking him for something and he said something like ‘I’m fine’ and let me know he was fine talking there.
“And then he came back before the last round and just said to me, ‘These are the moments we’re living for,’ and he talked about rolling the dice, and that’s what he did,” he added.
However, that didn’t stop boxing fans from taking to social media and brutally mocking Joshua for his actions just seconds before his KO loss.
His trainer Ben Davison revealed who Joshua really stuck his tongue out at
One fan wrote on ‘X’: ‘Karma is a bitch.’
A second simply asked: “What was AJ thinking at that moment?”
A third added: ‘Come on AJ, didn’t we learn anything from Fury after he stuck his tongue out at Usyk?’
While a fourth echoed: “Oh my, a dose of humility after that arrogance, the Universe works in beautiful ways to bring balance.”
Followed by a fifth who said: ‘Joshua looked at the crowd and stuck his tongue out! That was the same reaction he had when Andy Garcia started taking him down!’
Fans were quick to take to social media and accused Joshua of mocking the crowd.
Joshua’s trainer went on to defend the 34-year-old’s actions during the fight and claimed that he and his team should take some of the responsibility for Joshua’s lackluster performance.
‘As Eddie (Hearn) said, a lot of people talk about when they have a bad night, and that was a bad night.
‘I would just like to say that my team and I have received a lot of credit for their good performances, so it is important that we also take responsibility for their poor performances, and we are willing to do that.
‘He talked about taking risks. A lot of people have said that when things aren’t going well, I’m going to come out with my shield, but that’s what he did tonight.
‘A lot of people have said that he’s hesitant to let go of his hands, but he’s proven otherwise: he let go of them and came out on a short straw tonight.
“Obviously we are very, very devastated.”
