Daniel Dubois defeated former two-time world champion Anthony Joshua in front of 96,000 fans at Wembley Stadium in London to make his first impressive defense of his IBF heavyweight title.

The 27-year-old Dubois was the underdog, but he dropped Joshua several times and put himself in a position to challenge for the joint titles, thereby ruining his opponent’s once glittering career.

Joshua, 34, tried to emulate the likes of Muhammad Ali, Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis by becoming a three-time world champion. But he was knocked down by Dubois in the opening round and never fully recovered.

In the fifth round he appeared to falter the otherwise dominant Dubois, but his domestic rival immediately ended the contest with a stunning right hook.

“Aren’t you entertained?” Dubois said after the fight to loud cheers. “This is my time, my redemption story. And I’m not going to stop until I reach my full potential.”

Dubois has now put himself in the position of potentially fighting the winner of the rematch between WBA, WBC and WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury, although his promoter, Frank Warren, promised the IBF champion would “keep busy”.

Joshua said he felt “p*****” to lose, but quickly vowed to continue boxing after a fourth defeat in the last five years. “I rolled the dice and came up short,” he said. “But I’ll keep rolling the dice.” Eddie Hearn, his promoter, said at the time that Joshua would be interested in a rematch.