On Saturday night, Daniel Dubois stunned Anthony Joshua and the 96,000 spectators inside Wembley Arena with a knockout blow in the fifth round. After being knocked out three times in the first four rounds, Dubois sent the 34-year-old flying in the fifth round.

From the beginning, Joshua seemed less concentrated than his opponent. In the fifth round, minutes before his opponent’s right hand knocked him out, he was seen sticking out his tongue and staring out into the audience. Joshua can be seen putting his tongue out and turning to face the crowd in the TNT Sports video that shows the referee separating the two heavyweight fighters.

Shortly before he was eliminated in the fifth round, Joshua was seen putting his tongue out at the fans.

A ringside view of @DynamiteDubois' knockout of Anthony Joshua 🧨#RiyadhSeasonCard: Wembley Edition | #JoshuaDubois pic.twitter.com/ohnRgkpg2S

— Boxing on TNT Sports (@boxingontnt) September 21, 2024

The experienced boxer was quickly accused on social media of making fun of the audience, but his trainer Ben Davison quickly refuted these claims and provided the truth.

Daniel Dubois retained the IBF heavyweight title after Joshua was unable to recover from his lethal right-hander in the fifth

When asked about the viral clip, Davison explained in his post-fight press conference that:

‘I was asking for something from him and he sort of said ‘I’m OK’ and let me know he’s OK by actually talking in there,’

‘And then he came back before the last round and just said to me ‘These are the moments that we live for’ and talked about rolling the dice – and that’s what he did.’ he added.

That didn’t however stop boxing fans from taking to social media and brutally mocking Joshua for his actions just seconds before his KO loss.

His trainer Ben Davison revealed who Joshua really stuck his tongue out to

One fan wrote on ‘X’: ‘ Karma is a B****h.’

A second simply asked ‘What was AJ thinking at this moment?’.

A third added: ‘Come on AJ, didn’t we learn anything from Fury after he was sticking his tongue out at Usyk’.

Whilst a fourth echoed: ‘Oh dear, a dose of humble pie served up after that arrogance, the Universe works in beautiful ways to bring balance’

Followed by a fifth who said ‘Joshua looking at the crowd and sticking his tongue out was the same reaction he had when Andy Garcia started knocking him down!!’.

Fans were quick to take to social media and accuse Joshua of taunting the crowd

Joshua’s trainer continued to defend the 34-year-old’s actions during the fight and stated that himself and his team should take some of the heat of Joshua’s lackluster performance.

‘Like Eddie [Hearn] said, a lot of people talk about when they’re having an off night, and that was an off night.

‘I’d just like to say that me and my team have received a hell of a lot of credit for good performances he’s had, so it’s important that we take responsibility for the bad performances as well, so we’re willing to do that.

‘He spoke about rolling the dice. ‘A lot of people have talked about, when things aren’t going well, I’ll go out on my shield, but he did that tonight.

‘A lot of people have said he’s hesitant to let his hands go but he’s showed he’s not – he let his hands go and came off with a short straw tonight.

‘Obviously we’re very very gutted.’