A non-stop barrage of dynamite blows from the fists of Daniel Dubois sent shockwaves around boxing and altered the future landscape of the sport's blue riband division.
It was a jaw-dropping performance of a lifetime from the 27-year-old in front of a British record crowd of more than 98,000 people at the iconic Wembley Stadium, Anthony Joshua - for so long now the darling of British heavyweight boxing - brutally sent sprawling to the canvas four times en route to a devastating fifth-round knockout defeat.
Dubois delivered a menacing and spiteful display full of aggression and vicious intent, not even the slightest bit overawed by the size of the occasion on the biggest stage of his career by far as he swarmed all over his rival from the very first bell and just never relented until the job was done.
As well as raising serious questions about Joshua's future, ones he quickly batted away by insisting that he would unquestionably come again in his quest to become a three-time world champion and was certainly not contemplating retirement, such a momentous upset obviously had significant ramifications for the heavyweight scene in general.
“Of course I want to continue fighting,” a defiant Joshua declared. “We took a shot at success and we came up short. And what does that mean now? Are we going to run away? We’re gonna live to fight another day. That’s what I am, I’m a warrior.”
Many had scoffed at the notion of Dubois as a proper world champion, having won an interim belt with his impressive eighth-round stoppage of Filip Hrgovic to help Queensberry to a clean sweep of Matchroom on the inaugural 5v5 card in Saudi Arabia in June - a result that followed hot on the heels of a last-gasp stoppage of Jarrell Miller in a bruising slugfest that will no doubt be looked back upon in the future as one of his most important performances.
He had been upgraded to full title status without needing to step back into the ring, with Oleksandr Usyk relinquishing the IBF strap - and with it his short-lived status as the first undisputed king of the heavyweights since Lennox Lewis - earlier this summer as he prepares for his highly-anticipated rematch with Tyson Fury in Riyadh in December rather than fulfilling his mandatory duties.
Dubois emphatically silenced any lingering doubts regarding his championship credentials at Wembley, surely putting himself first in line for a crack at the winner of Usyk vs Fury 2 in 2025.
However, it remains to be seen when his own chance at undisputed might arise, with a trilogy bout surely needed to settle that particular epic rivalry if Fury successfully avenges his May defeat before Christmas - an outcome which is certainly not unthinkable given the way in which the first fight transpired and ended with a narrow split decision.
Dubois and promoter Frank Warren have both spoken of their desire for a second clash with Usyk and the chance to right what they both still see as a significant wrong following last summer's meeting in Poland, in which Dubois was eventually stopped in the ninth round but earlier floored Usyk with a shot that was controversially ruled a low blow and from which the Ukrainian was crucially given almost four minutes to recover.
"The fight I would like to see him in now is Usyk again," Warren told the BBC on Monday. "He is a different Daniel Dubois, he is more mature physically and mentally.
"He will go from strength to strength. He will be here for a while, he is a young man and has all the tools to take this division over.”
Usyk and Fury were both among the sea of stars from the world of boxing and beyond present at ringside at Wembley, with the latter joking that Joshua had cost him some £150million by losing and seemingly ruining the chance for arguably the biggest and most lucrative fight in British history to come to fruition at long last after so many agonising near-misses and false dawns over recent years.
But it could be in a somewhat roundabout way that Joshua's loss actually brings a long-awaited showdown with Fury closer than ever, if the self-proclaimed 'Gypsy King' is bested by Usyk again in the rematch with no need for a trilogy.
While many may understandably feel after so many disappointments that Joshua vs Fury is a mega-fight now comfortably past its sell-by date, particularly with no belts on the line, it would still be an absolutely mammoth money-spinning event of which there simply remains no potential equal in combat sports on these shores.
“I think people may still [want to see it], if he comes back and got a win, who knows? Tyson's got his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk on Dec 21st, but I fancy him to come through it,” Warren told talkSPORT.
Daniel Dubois has all the tools to take over the heavyweight division
“This division is alive, losers fighting losers and winners fighting winners. The heavyweight division's never been so lively.”
Of course, among the most crucial factors in plotting the immediate future at heavyweight is an all-important rematch clause - of sorts - available to Joshua that would seemingly not have been on the table had Dubois lost on Saturday night.
Matchroom chief Eddie Hearn initially said that he fully expected Joshua to exercise that option after a rest, before offering more clarity over the situation on Monday during an interview with Sky Sports.
“We do have a further fight with Riyadh Season and His Excellency Turki Alalshikh,” Hearn said. “And that could include a rematch with Daniel Dubois.
“That’s one of the fights that we could accept and would be willing to accept. But at the same time, His Excellency will have to deal with Frank Warren and make sure that they could look at a potential fight with us.
“At the moment it’s about looking at the options for Anthony. I spoke to him about 10 minutes ago and it’s all very fresh at the moment, over 24 hours after the fight. Plenty of options and plenty of things to consider.”
