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Wembley, once a venue reluctant to embrace the brutality of the fight game, has transformed into a new Mecca for British boxing—a place where fighters have chased history, and crowds have swelled to record-breaking heights.
From the bruising brilliance of Carl Froch’s rematch with George Groves to the thunderous rise of Anthony Joshua, the stadium has become a crucible for boxing’s most dramatic scripts.
It therefore seems appropriate, ahead of another monumental heavyweight clash under the arch between Daniel Dubois and Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world on July 19, to take a look back at the greatest nights of boxing that Wembley Stadium has ever seen.
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Cassius Clay vs Henry Cooper (1963)
In the first of an iconic brace of fights between Cassius Clay, soon to become Muhammad Ali, and veteran Brit Henry Cooper, Wembley was the chosen venue for the clash.
Clay had made fast progress since turning professional after claiming gold at the 1960 Rome Olympic Games and was promised a shot at a world title if he was able to beat the seasoned Cooper.
With over 40,000 fans in attendance, Cooper almost pulled off one of the biggest upsets in heavyweight history when he dropped Clay in the fourth round after rolling a left hook and countering with a thunderous hook of his own, which nearly sent Clay onto the commentary table.
Ali was saved by the bell and made a miraculous recovery to force the referee to end the fight the very next round due to a nasty cut above Cooper’s left eye, which Clay had opened with his stinging jab.
- Watch Usyk versus Dubois 2 live and exclusive on DAZN PPV this Saturday – July 19 – for £24.99 UK; $59.99 US; $19.99/equivalent ROW. Buy the PPV now here.
Frank Bruno vs Oliver McCall (1995)
Frank Bruno had endeared himself to the British fight public, who had been following him on his hunt for a heavyweight title since 1986 when he came up short against Tim Witherspoon.
Bruno had two more attempts at world title glory, losing to two greats – Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis. Now on his fourth attempt, 30,000 filled out Wembley to see Bruno take on Oliver McCall and finally claim his first world title.
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‘True Brit’ came out a man on a mission and dominated all the early exchanges, landing heavy on the famously durable McCall. McCall, sensing the fight slip away, pushed back against Bruno, finding success in the middle rounds and inflicting some damage of his own onto the challenger. But the gap was too big, and it would need to be a knockout for the American to retain his title.
Surviving the late onslaught, Bruno emerged after nearly a decade of trying as the world heavyweight champion and gave an emotional speech to his fans.
Bruno said: “If I never walk again, get run over or get shot, it’s down in history that I’m heavyweight champion.”
He concluded: ‘I look like ET but I’m a winner, a champion.”
The rivalry between Carl Froch and George Groves will go down as one of the greatest in British boxing history. The two shared a genuine distaste for one another, which was only heightened by the controversial ending to their first fight.
There was no better place to hold the rematch than at Wembley. This would be the first boxing event held at the redeveloped stadium and hosted 80,000 fans thirsty for action, and action is what they got.
Groves looked languid and dangerous on the counter as he had done in the first fight, against the more robotic and powerful Froch.
The opening exchanges were cagey until the fight exploded into life at the end of the fifth round, which brought the Wembley crowd to their feet.
Froch tried to seize the momentum, but Groves fought back admirably, and the fight looked on its way to a razor-thin points margin.
But in the eighth, Groves found himself on the ropes and Froch detonated a devastating right hand that ended the fight and gave a satisfying albeit violent conclusion to the rivalry.
Anthony Joshua vs Wladimir Klitschko (2017)
Anthony Joshua emerged as Britain’s new great heavyweight hope after winning gold at the 2012 London Olympics and was on a tear in his first 18 fights with 18 wins and 18 knockouts.
Klitschko had been the dominant force in the heavyweight division for well over a decade, and it was no secret that this would be the toughest test of Joshua’s career, despite Klitschko being 41 at the time.
In a post-war record attendance at Wembley, 90,000 people packed out the stadium to watch Joshua attempt to climb the top step of the heavyweight division.
The fight lived up to the hype and more. Joshua was on the hunt and scored a knockdown in the fifth that could have been the end of the fight, but Klitschko’s experience and toughness allowed him to survive.
The Ukrainian then came back in the very next round, having made an inexplicable recovery and pounced on a tiring Joshua, scoring a knockdown of his own.
The fight was on a knife’s edge until the 11th round, when Joshua landed an uppercut from the boxing gods that sent Klitschko reeling and proceeded to unload punishment on the veteran former champion, forcing the referee to call an end to proceedings and crown Joshua the heavyweight king.
Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois (2024)
After losing twice to Oleksandr Usyk, forfeiting his unified heavyweight titles, Anthony Joshua was on the road to joining an exclusive club of three-time world heavyweight champions.
Joshua was coming off two brutal knockout wins against Otto Wallin and former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.
The man in his way was a resurgent Daniel Dubois, who had overcome an early loss to Joe Joyce in 2020 and a stoppage defeat against Oleksandr Usyk by beating Jarrell Miller and Filip Hrgovic.
Dubois had become the IBF heavyweight champion after his interim title was upgraded due to Usyk being forced to vacate to have a rematch with Tyson Fury.
Joshua was the heavy favourite heading into the fight, with fans labelling Dubois a quitter and believing ‘AJ’ was destined to be heavyweight champion again.
But Dubois came out firing against a tentative Joshua and knocked down the former champion with a right hand at the end of the first round.
The crowd was in a stunned silence as Joshua gingerly made his feet and back to his corner.
The writing was on the wall for Joshua as he was knocked down again in the third and fourth rounds before the final blow landed in the fifth round. A hellacious overhand right landed and confirmed Dubois as heavyweight champion.
Usyk vs Dubois 2 only on DAZN
Watch Usyk versus Dubois 2 live and exclusive on DAZN PPV this Saturday – July 19 – for £24.99 UK; $59.99 US; $19.99/equivalent ROW. Buy the PPV now here.
