AN UNDERCARD fight was dramatically stopped after the lights went out at Wembley.
Fans gathered at the epic stadium, tonight holding 96,000 boxing enthusiasts, to witness British heavyweight battle between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois.
Excitement was high ahead of a special pre-fight show from Oasis’ Liam Gallagher.
And there were plenty of exciting bouts to enjoy on the stacked undercard too.
But one battle was halted after fans were plunged into darkness.
The moment occurred during the thrilling light-heavyweight battle between Joshua Buatsi and Willy Hutchinson.
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Both men threw some incredible punches in a back-and-forth clash.
However, the rivals were left peering into the dark after Wembley’s lights went out during the eighth round.
Fans gasped as Buatsi and Hutchinson looked around blindly.
And after what felt like an eternity, the lights eventually came back on following several seconds of darkness.
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But the referee felt it was not right to continue until the problem was sorted.
And he ordered a halt to proceedings lasting several minutes before green-lighting a restart.
Round by round: How Dubois demolished Joshua
ANTHONY JOSHUA bravely picked himself up from the floor against Daniel Dubois – until he could no more.
AJ was floored four times in five rounds by Dubois before a thudding counter right closed the show in dramatic fashion.
Here, SunSport’s Jack Figg takes you round-by-round from the Wembley war.
ROUND 1
Dubois comes out sharp with the jab as Joshua bounces around struggling to deal with the piston-like left.
Huge right hand from Dubois has AJ staggering backwards with his hands far too low from the opening bell.
Joshua made to pay for the mistake as he circles out with his hands down and gets dropped by an overhand right.
ROUND 2
Joshua – saved only by the bell after being floored – struggles to get going as he takes shots to the face.
AJ is tottering and teetering around the ring with his guard again dangerously low and inviting pressure on.
Joshua is attempting to get back into the bout but his jab looks far too lazy – he doesn’t look to have recovered from the knockdown.
ROUND 3
AJ comes out with more intent but swings wildly with a right and connects with only thin air.
Dubois pours on the pressure and hammers Joshua into the corner scoring another knockdown.
The bell sounds but Dubois lands one or two afterwards – again AJ is saved by the clock as the writing looks on the wall.
ROUND 4
Disaster strikes again with Joshua floored once more – losing his balance as he touches the canvas.
The referee gives AJ another fighting chance and Dubois lands a low blow – giving the challenger some valuable respite.
Dubois slows down as four rounds come to a close with Joshua showing sensational resilience to hang in there.
ROUND 5
Joshua lands a huge right hand and Dubois legs buckle – an astonishing turnaround looks to be on the cards.
AJ pins Dubois onto the ropes and attempts one of his signature uppercuts but the countering right hand gets there first.
Joshua is caught flush on the chin, dropped once more and this time out for good. Dubois scores a stunning KO win.
Luckily for fans, the exciting fight went the distance after 12 rounds of big hits.
And it was Buatsi who emerged victorious on points with a controversial split decision, having dropped Hutchinson – who also had a point deducted – twice.
The bad blood started between the light-heavy pair back in June when one-too-many taunts from the Scottish Traveller sparked JB into action.
The 31-year-old lunged and grabbed Hutchinson by the throat – the man nicknamed Just Business, made it personal.
And at Wembley he got his revenge with a split decision – with one maniac judge needing the sack – after flooring his foe twice.
The judges called the spite-laced slugfest 113-112 insanely to Hutchinson and thankfully 117-108 and 115-110 to JB.
The opener was technical and smart, until the bell rang and Hutchinson whacked one final dig over Buatsi’s guard just as he had lowered it to take a break.
The second stanza heralded the first meaningful punch, when Buatsi cracked over a right hand that found the Scotsman’s face.
But – in his biggest step-up to date – Hutchinson held his nerve and his feet and worked his way out of trouble.
It was nip and tuck through three, when a a Saudi medical group brand was beamed around Wembley stadium, as a thank-you for their sponsorship.
The fight finally caught fire right at the end of the sixth, Buatsi landed a skull-shuddering right hand and bounced his prey off the ropes two times.
The Croydon savage then went downstairs and slashed at his trunk until Hutchinson folded to the deck and bravely rose at eight, just as the bell went.
Hutchinson rallied in round seven and it looked like he had Buatsi in trouble, but the undefeated London just tucked up and caight the volley on his arms and gloves and he grinned when he came out of his shell unscathed.
Then right on the bell that right-hand honey punch clipped Hutchinson’s whiskers once again.
Hutchinson was taking a battering throughout round eight but it was only the stadiums lights that were knocked out for a second.
Things got even darker for Hutchinson at the end of round nine when his engine betrayed him and he folded down the canvas for a second time.
Buatsi whacked high and low and it was safer for the battered man to take a breather.
To his credit, Hutchinson kept going to the well and coming back refreshed, he landed a decent left hook in the tenth but Buatsi looked impervious and Hutch entered the championship rounds flagging.
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The Hutch Train huffed and puffed right until the final bell but Buatsi was always in a different class and coasted to victory.
Despite one judge needing the boot immediately for thinking Buatsi lost.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
