Heavyweight knockout machine Daniel Dubois has suffered his first professional boxing loss, taking a knee before a TKO stoppage against fellow Brit Joe Joyce on Sunday (AEDT) – leading to an accusation that he "quit".<\/p>\n
Former Olympic silver medallist Joyce, 35, improved to 12-0 as a pro (11 KOs) by closing Dubois' left eye with relentless jabs at The Church House in London.<\/p>\n
The 23-year-old Dubois, who was 15-0 heading into the fight with 14 KOs, went down after taking another blow to the eye during the 10th round.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He seemed unwilling to continue and the referee waved off the fight, sending Joyce into raptures. Joyce wrested Dubois' British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles, plus the vacant European title, by stopping the unbeaten phenom.<\/p>\n
"I was very unhappy with the way that he took a knee," former heavyweight world champion David Haye told BT Sport post-fight.<\/p>\n
Former two-weight world champ Carl Frampton added: "I think we all like Dubois, he's a likable guy – but it it's someone we didn't like, we'd say it's a quit.<\/p>\n
"I think he quit there, I have to be brutally honest. Let's call a spade a spade.<\/p>\n
"He took a knee from a shot in the eye. His eye was a mess, his eye was closed, but I'd get dragged out of the ring. I wouldn't take a knee."<\/p>\n
The loss will add to criticism that Dubois has been overhyped, after being fed a steady stream of mismatches so far in his career. He was ranked No.2 with the WBO heading into the fight but must now reset his still-young career, right when he was edging towards a possible world title shot.<\/p>\n
At this stage, 'Dynamite' Dubois was no match for the experience and class of Joyce.<\/p>\n
The decisive jab from Joyce came just seconds into the 10th round, of a scheduled 12. Dubois' eye was badly swollen from mid-fight an he showed limited ability to defend the onslaught from Joyce's probing left hand.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
"What can I say?" Dubois said.<\/p>\n
"He caught me with a good jab. It just happened, man. I tried my best but I couldn't see. I'm a tough guy. I'll come again, for sure."<\/p>\n
Joyce said: "Respect to Daniel: "He's got some power and he can come again. But with my experience I've learned to ride it. I was happy to take it."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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