Daniel Dubois rallied from the brink of disaster to stop Kevin Lerena and salvage his heavyweight career.
The Brit was dropped three times in the first round by huge underdog Lerena who stood on the verge of a momentous upset in front of 60,000 fans at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Dubois, who was defending the 'regular' version of the WBA belt held by Oleksandr Usyk, was the odds-on favourite to prevail on the undercard of Tyson Fury vs Derek Chisora.
But he was in trouble in the opening session when he was sent to the canvas by his South African challenger. Dubois beat the count but went on to twice take a knee as he was left staring down the barrel of a second career defeat.
He made his discomfort clear to his corner - and it later emerged he had suffered a knee injury - but was able to reach his stool and slowly but surely began to work his way back into the contest. And he dropped Lerena himself in the third round with a right hand as the tide swung before the fight was stopped with the challenger against the ropes and under the cosh.
"It was amazing. He caught me and I felt like my knee went," Dubois said. "I have the heart of a warrior and listened to my team. I didn't feel it the shot must of hit me, s*** happens. "I was just saying get back to your boxing and calm it down. I listened to Shane and I had to recover and I came back out stronger."
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Dubois was returning to action six months after stopping heavyweight veteran Trevor Bryan in Miami. The 25-year-old had recovered well from his stoppage defeat by Joe Joyce in 2020 to put himself among the potential challengers to Fury. But he was almost left facing a long road back by Lerena who was fighting for only the fourth time as a heavyweight. The 30-year-old had lost just once as a cruiserweight and made a slow and steady start to life in boxing's premier division.
He was expected to be mere KO fodder for Dubois at the home of Spurs but looked ill at ease in the early exchanges. He appeared to tell his corner he was struggling with a leg injury between rounds. But he rallied like the champion he aspires to be as Lerena wilted under a barrage of heavy shots against the ropes, leaving referee Howard Foster with little choice but to step in with just seconds until the bell.
