- Anthony Joshua suffered a fifth-round knockout loss to Daniel Dubois
- Seconds before the fatal blow, Joshua was spotted sticking his tongue out
- Many fans accused Joshua on social media of mocking the crowd, but his trainer gave the real reason behind his actions.
Daniel Dubois knocked out Anthony Joshua and the 96,000 spectators at Wembley on Saturday night in the fifth round.
The 34-year-old player was hit hard by Dubois in the fifth round after having already hit the canvas three times in the previous rounds.
Joshua appeared less focused than his opponent from the start and in the fifth round he was spotted looking at the crowd and sticking his tongue out, just before being knocked out by his opponent’s right hand.
In the video posted by TNT Sports, Joshua can be seen turning his head to the crowd and sticking out his tongue as the referee separates the two heavyweights.
Many social media users accused the boxing veteran of mocking the crowd, but his trainer Ben Davison quickly debunked these rumors and gave the real explanation.
Joshua was caught sticking his tongue out at the crowd just before being knocked out in the fifth round
Daniel Dubois retained the IBF heavyweight title after Joshua was unable to recover from his deadly right-handed throw in the fifth
When asked about the viral clip, Davison explained during his post-match press conference:
‘I asked him for something and he said something like ‘I’m okay’ and let me know he was okay by actually talking about it,’
“And then he came back for the final round and just said to me, ‘These are the moments we live for,’ and he talked about rolling the dice – and that’s what he did,” he added.
However, that didn’t stop boxing fans from brutally mocking Joshua on social media for his actions just seconds before his knockout defeat.
His trainer Ben Davison revealed who Joshua really stuck his tongue out at
A fan wrote on ‘X’: ‘Karma is a B****h.’
A second simply asked, “What was AJ thinking at that moment?”
A third added: ‘Come on AJ, have we learned nothing from Fury after he stuck his tongue out at Usyk?’
While a fourth replied: ‘Oh boy, 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 audience and stuck his tongue out, the same reaction he had when Andy Garcia started knocking him over!!’.
Fans were quick to accuse Joshua on social media of taunting the crowd
Joshua’s trainer continued to defend the 34-year-old’s actions during the fight, stating that he and his team had to deal with the consequences of Joshua’s poor performance themselves.
‘Like Eddie [Hearn] I said that a lot of people talk about having a bad night, and this was a bad night.
“I just want to say that my team and I have received a lot of praise for his good performances. So it is important that we also take responsibility for the bad performances. We want to do that.
“He talked about rolling the dice. ‘A lot of people have said if things don’t go my way I’ll go on my shield, but he did that tonight.
‘A lot of people have said he’s reluctant to let go of his hands, but he’s shown he’s not: he let go of his hands and got off with a close shave tonight.
“It’s clear that we are very sad about it.”