Daily Times

LONDON: Joe Joyce stunned Daniel Dubois to win the British, Commonwealth and European titles at Church House here on Saturday night. The Rio Olympics 2016 silver medallist had gone into the bout as underdog, but shocked the heavyweight 12 years his junior to win by stoppage in the 10th round. In spite of Triple D’s reputation for his fast starts, Joyce’s left jab caused him problems early on. Dubois’ defence consistently looked exposed and from the halfway mark, a swollen left eye only made things worse as his vision declined. That proved to be decisive as he was counted out as the swelling got out of control late on. With a two-inch reach advantage, Joyce did a lot more early damage early on than many would have anticipated. However, Dubois quickly began to assert himself and hurt the Juggernaut from the second round onwards. But Joyce always knew that the longer the fight went on, his stamina would begin to tell. He continued to mark the younger Brit and showed why those who had written him off beforehand had done so at their peril. Where does Dubois go from here? At just 23, he can afford this early setback but it is undoubtedly a stumbling block in his journey towards a world title shot. Joyce’s camp had taunted that this fight had come too early for him and it seems they have been proved right.