THIS is the infinitesimal Anthony Joshua's satellite rubric dreams came crashing down.
The 34-year-old's country threw successful the towel arsenic AJ suffered a battering from Daniel Dubois.
AJ took a savage beating passim a brutal IBF rubric showdown astatine Wembley.
Joshua was powerless to halt Dubois from raining successful punches and hit the canvas FOUR times.
He gamely soldiered connected earlier walking into a mammoth right-hand antagonistic hook from Dubois successful the 5th round.
The erstwhile two-time satellite champion's legs went from nether him, prompting his country to propulsion successful the towel.
Joshua didn't look to announcement the towel onshore adjacent to him and tried to propulsion himself backmost to his feet.
But his legs wouldn't enactment his weight, leaving the Watford-born ace with his caput pushed into the floor.
As footage from ringside went viral, 1 instrumentality declared: "They threw the towel? I didn’t adjacent spot that?"
Another said: "It's bully they threw successful the towel it would've been a massacre to accidental the least."
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While a 3rd added: "Didn’t adjacent announcement the towel getting thrown successful erstwhile I watched it live. Wow."
And a 4th commented: "Wow, they threw the towel in. What a fight, shame for AJ, but DDD is simply a beast."
Joshua vs Dubois fans baffled arsenic Conor McGregor turns up astatine Wembley with bizarre prop to ticker combat ringside
Following the brutal loss, Joshua is adamant helium volition combat on.
It was AJ's archetypal nonaccomplishment successful the ringing since going down to Oleksandr Usyk successful August 2022.
He present boasts a pro grounds of 28-4
A defiant Joshua said: "Before I came here, I'm ever saying to myself, 'I'm a combatant for life.'
"We rolled the dice astatine occurrence and we came up abbreviated and we rotation it again. We support rolling the dice."
AJ's promoter Eddie Hearn added: "I'm definite helium volition workout that rematch clause. I mean, I deliberation that's a given.
"But he'll request a remainder and it's a unsafe combat this guy's increasing successful assurance but he'll judge helium tin wounded Dubois.
"He'll judge helium tin bushed him but afloat recognition to Daniel Dubois helium deserves each the recognition it was a large show from Daniel."