Nostalgia and knockouts as big-time boxing delivers

By Mark Baldwin

IT was another special night. A spine-tingling night full of drama. We had more beyond dodgy scorecards. Josh Warrington left his gloves in the ring, a sign of retirement, perhaps. If not, it should be. Warrington has given everything for his craft. As a die-hard Sheffield United fan, it pains me to admit that some of my favourite ringside moments have been surrounded by his Leeds incredibly vocal faithful.

The night didn’t drag. The talking heads were thankfully kept to a minimum. The fights flowed without excessive waiting. Lessons appeared to have been learned. Not before time.

Liam Gallagher returned to his past, a past that will once again be his future. Two feuding brothers that have patched up their differences. Three old classics rolled out once again before the main event of the night. Musical interludes on a fight night always amuse me. Freddie Mercury didn’t have to wait for a Southern Area title fight before he belted out Radio Ga Ga at Live Aid. As Dana White once said, “You don’t mess with the fights.”

Once Gallagher had departed the stage, an extended version of Sweet Caroline filled the London air, closely followed by the obligatory fireworks and the extravagance of the ring walks that welcomed the two hopeful heavyweight gladiators. Daniel Dubois defended his IBF bauble. And his fragile reputation. Anthony Joshua needed a victory for what potentially lay ahead. Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury were seated at ringside. One of them would surely be next. The script had been written. The money had already been counted.

Towards the end of the 4th round of a quite extraordinary contest that was anything but following the desired script, my old mind sprang back in time to 1993. A different stadium. A different country. Two British heavyweights fighting for the heavyweight championship of the world. The betting underdog had made a better-than-expected start. An unlikely victory seemed more than likely. Until one big punch made everything that came before redundant. On Saturday night, it looked like history would repeat itself.

Frank Bruno couldn’t quite get the job done all those years ago against Lennox Lewis in Wales. Just when he seemed on the verge of victory, one big right hand from Lewis, when Bruno was going for the glorious finish, changed the trajectory of the fight. Lewis always found a way to win. Bruno somehow always found a way to lose when it mattered the most.

There were some similarities on Saturday night in front of over 98,000 fans. A fighter marching forward thinking he would make his nightmare start irrelevant. But Anthony Joshua couldn’t replicate what Lewis did at the National Stadium in Cardiff. His night ended in the exact same manner Bruno experienced over thirty years ago.

But it did appear as that 4th round closed out that Dubois was slowly starting to fade. Only fleeting signs, but enough to make me think back to that night in Cardiff. I wondered if Dubois had missed his chance. Two stunning knockdowns had put Dubois within touching distance of a famous victory at a different national stadium. The way the 5th round was starting to play out convinced me that Dubois would wake up the following morning like Bruno did against Lewis, a brave but ultimately, a defeated fighter.

Having stunned Dubois with his own power shots, Joshua sensed a quite remarkable comeback until he absorbed one big right hand too many, and his brave attempt to rescue a victory from the brink of defeat ended with him being counted out.

Joshua is now in the exact same space Bruno was when his third attempt at winning the biggest prize in the sport had ended in abject disappointment. The calls were loud and clear that Bruno should walk away. Joshua is also hearing the retirement talk. It has to be said, not for the first time.

Bruno didn’t listen, and on the fourth attempt, he eventually got the job done. Where it started against Tim Witherspoon in 1996, it ended with that emotional win over Oliver McCall nine years later. Wembley Stadium was both cruel and kind to Big Frank.

At 34, Joshua is unlikely to listen also. He has already said that he will carry on. Nobody is likely to tell him otherwise. But maybe they should. There are still obscene amounts of money to be made from Joshua, and the former two-time heavyweight king might still enjoy another night or two of success. Albeit in limited form in comparison to his previous achievements. It is extremely doubtful he will ever come close to matching what he has already done. In truth, how could he?

Unlike Bruno, Joshua has achieved everything he set out to do. He has changed the shape of British boxing. He might even have saved it. But on the evidence from his fight with Dubois, the decline has now firmly set in. The wins over Otto Wallin and Francis Ngannou look to be a false dawn. Victories that have flattered to deceive. A temporary relief from all the doom and gloom that has been circling Joshua since that horror night at Madison Square Garden in 2019. Excuses will undoubtedly be made. But a hard look in the mirror and thoughts of the future would better serve him. Carrying on will surely only end the way it did against Dubois. Joshua deserves better. His future health also.