Daniel Dubois ended 2019 the way he began it: With a no-frills knockout win.
The rising British heavyweight stopped Japan’s Kyotaro Fujimoto in the second round Saturday at the Copper Box Arena in London, bringing to a close a banner year that began with a knockout of Razvan Cojanu in the same round in March.
It was business as usual for Dubois, who neutralized Fujimoto with his jab before putting him down early in the second round. Moments later, Dubois iced him for good with a deftly-placed straight right.
The official time of stoppage was 2:10.
“I knew I had the power, and I was really confident in what I was going to do tonight,” Dubois (14-0, 13 knockouts) said. “What can I say? The light switched on, and that was good night.”
It’s the fifth knockout win in as many fights in 2019 for the London native, who also drubbed journeymen Razvan Cojanu, Richard Lartey and Ebenezer Tetteh. His most notable was win came against domestic rival Nathan Gorman, whom he steamrolled inside five rounds.
Not surprisingly, there is now growing anticipation for Dubois to face some of his dangerous countrymen, such as Joe Joyce, or, if you’re Dubois’ promoter Frank Warren, possibly even the recently re-crowned Anthony Joshua.
“Some people may laugh about it,” Warren said in the press conference before Saturday’s fight. “If I could make (Dubois) against Anthony Joshua, I would make it. I’m so confident. I would make that fight today. And I know who I’d have my money on.”
In any case, the drum roll has begun for the 22-year-old Dubois to face a legitimate threat in 2020.