Weekend Review: Dubois’ night of fame as Arsenal are denied by Stones

Daniel Dubois announced himself on the biggest stage while Arsenal were denied a rare win on a weekend that would live forever in history. 

Drama is not enough to qualify what sports fans witnessed over last weekend. While every weekend has its own story to tell for sports lovers, last weekend will forever go down in history. 

It was a weekend that had everything from drama to excitement in every aspect. As usual, it all started on Friday night with some European football action before the heavyweight fight took centre stage on Saturday night. 

Sunday was a fun-filled day for football lovers as the two big games that day overdelivered from start to finish. 

As per our usual tradition, Housebets take a look at some of the biggest sporting moments from last weekend. 

Daniel Dubois stops Anthony Joshua

Forget whatever your favourite sport is, the biggest headline on Saturday was Anthony Joshua’s heavyweight boxing clash against Daniel Dubois. 

Joshua was seeking to become a three-time world champion going into the fight against Dubois, who had the IBF heavyweight title. 

Despite being the champion, Dubois was the massive underdog going into the clash. The 27-year-old had not had a fight of that magnitude compared to Joshua who has had 13 world title fights in sold out arenas going into Saturday’s fight. 

Many felt the lights would be too bright for Dubois as it was his first time fighting in front of 98,000 fans at Wembley Stadium. In contrast, Joshua has had multiple title fights at Wembley going into Saturday’s fight.

However, that did not matter as Dubois was not fazed by the bright lights as he showed his intent right from the first round. 

The 27-year-old Briton showed a glimpse of what is expected to come late in the first round when he dropped Joshua with a big right hand. 

Dubois continued to pile pressure and had Joshua on the ropes in the second and third rounds, scoring a knockdown again. 

But Joshua never gave up even though his legs were gone at the end of the third round. But having come back from a similar situation against Wladimir Klitschko, there was always this belief that he could do the same against Dubois. 

And he almost did in the fifth round as he landed two powerful punches that left Dubois shocked and staggered. 

But just as it looked like Joshua was gaining momentum, Dubois hit back with a power shot of his own before landing the final knockout blow that left Joshua on the floor. 

It was a blow that sent shock waves around Wembley as many did not see the outcome. But considering how the fight started, Dubois was the deserved winner and he did it in devastating fashion. 

Team Europe wins the Laver Cup 

This year’s Laver Cup took place over the weekend with Team Europe regaining the trophy after Team World won the two previous editions. 

Team World appeared to be on course to take home the trophy for the third consecutive time, having lost the first four editions. 

Both teams were tied on opening day before Team World took an 8-4 lead on Saturday going into the final day on Sunday. 

With four matches scheduled for Sunday, Team World needed just two wins to take home the trophy. 

They started the day on a losing note as Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton lost in the doubles to Carlos Alcaraz and Casper Ruud. 

But they got back on track as Ben Shelton defeated Daniil Medvedev. Shelton’s win meant Team World needed just one victory from the last two matches to take home the trophy. 

However, Tiafoe could not get the job done against Zverev, leaving Taylor Fritz and Carlos Alcaraz in the final match. 

From that moment, there was only one winner as Alcaraz defeated Fritz in straight sets to win the trophy for Team Europe for the fifth time. 

Arsenal and AC Milan suffer mixed fortunes 

The two big games on Sunday took place at the Etihad and San Siro, with Arsenal taking on Man City ahead of AC Milan’s clash against Inter Milan. 

Arsenal went into the game seeking their first win against City at the Etihad since 2015. But they got off to a bad start as Erling Haaland put City ahead inside ten minutes. 

Arteta’s men did regroup, though, with Riccardo Calafiori drawing them level with a stunning strike before Gabriel put them ahead with a superb header. 

It looked like the momentum was with Arsenal from that moment until City were handed a lifeline after Leandro Trossard was sent off minutes before the break. 

With City having a man advantage, Pep Guardiola’s men played most of the second half in Arsenal’s half. 

But despite having most of the ball, they found it difficult to break down a resolute Arsenal defence. 

All looked to be pointing towards an Arsenal victory until John Stones popped up in the seventh minute of stoppage time to secure a point for the home side. 

Later that day, another big clash took place at San Siro as Inter Milan hosted AC Milan in the first Milan derby of the season. 

Pressure was on the Rossoneri, particularly their coach Paulo Fonseca. But Fonseca could not have hoped for the best possible start as Christian Pulisic put his side after ten minutes. 

Inter, however, levelled matters in the 27th minute through Federico Di Marco. But despite being the underdog, AC Milan were the better team, creating the clear cut chances. 

The Rossoneri’s performance eventually was rewarded with another goal late on in the game as Matteo Gabbia headed home in the 89th minute to end Milan’s six-game losing run in the derby, but more importantly, save Fonseca’s job for now.