The Anthony Joshua vs. Daniel Dubois event hasn’t had the most exciting start. In the latest undercard bout, Anthony Cacace clinched a unanimous decision victory over Josh Warrington after 12 rounds of what many are calling a sluggish and uneventful fight. 

Earlier, Josh Kelly secured a majority decision win against last-minute replacement Ishmael Davis, though the match itself didn’t do much to elevate the energy of the night. The same goes for the fight between Josh Padley and Mark Chamberlain, which Padley won via unanimous decision. This resulted in a wave of criticism from the fans on social media. 

Josh Warrington announces retirement

His Excellency Turki Alalshikh significantly slashed pay-per-view prices for the Joshua vs. Dubois fight. However, considering how lackluster the undercard bouts have been, the price drop may not have been coincidental. Yet, after the Cacace-Warrington fight, something interesting unfolded.

The talkSport editor Michael Benson highlighted the same on his X account, writing, “Josh Warrington took off his gloves and left them on the ring canvas after his defeat to Anthony Cacace, appearing to indicate that he could now announce his retirement from boxing…”

While Warrington might be ready to hang up his gloves, the fans online showed no mercy, harshly criticizing the undercard of the event.

Anthony Joshua vs. Daniel Dubois undercard branded dreadful

Almost every fight leading up to this point dragged at a snail’s pace, and just when a spark of action appeared on the horizon, it would quickly fizzle out into another sluggish affair. Despite that, this particular viewer seemed content with Warrington’s performance. The user wrote, “Great fight #CacaceWarrington @J_Warrington showing a big Heart in there!” However, his efforts could not help him win the fight.

Another user revealed the expectations people had from the fight. The user remarked, “I think everyone expected this fight to be a war what a disappointment. #CacaceWarrington.” For Warrington, this was a do-or-die fight, with two previous losses already hanging over him.

Someone else seemed utterly unimpressed with every fight. The user wrote, “dreadful fight like the last and the one before. Only good thing was Chamberlain losing And on top of everything that fight was meaningless. No belts or anything.” Notably, Mark Chamberlain recorded his first loss in this fight. 

The next user seemed to have had an issue with the commentary team. The user wrote, “#CacaceWarrington The commentators are a tad biased against Warrington.” Commentators often go off of first impressions, which may come off as biased. 

Even Rick Glasser jumped in to share his thoughts. “If I was guaranteed never to watch a #JoshKelly fight again, my life would be complete. F***ing boring, that’s not #Boxing that’s running!!! His parents should be embarrassed,” Glasser wrote. Kelly had anticipated a unanimous decision victory but was instead handed a majority decision win.

That said, Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois really need to deliver a standout performance to shift public opinion about their event. Whether they can achieve that remains to be seen. In the meantime, what are your thoughts on the undercard fights?