Dubois brutally knocks out Lerena in the third round. He bounces back from being floored THREE more times and having suffered a knee injury.

DANIEL DUBOIS survived THREE first-round knockdowns to make the first defence of his WBA regular heavyweight title.

Triple D returned to action on the undercard of Tyson Fury’s domestic dust-up with Derek Chisora – six months after decimating Trevor Bryan to claim the belt.

South African Kevin Lerena was tasked with the job being his first title defence – and he made a blistering start to the Tottenham tussle.

The 30-year-old knocked the champ down with a vicious left hook that landed on the top of his head.

Dubois went down a further two times in the first, with his right ankle seemingly betraying him.

He survived the round, but Lerena continued to have success with his hooks in the second.

Dubois, 25, came back strong towards the end of the stanza, landing a good left hook of his own before the bell.

Surprisingly, however, he continued to box on the back foot in the third.

The dogged and determined Lerena was all too happy to play the role of aggressor.

But he walked straight onto a beautiful straight right that sent him crashing to the canvas.

Lerena beat the count and tried his best to get his wits about him.

But he was unable to survive the ensuing storm – which included a hellacious uppercut – and the referee mercifully stopped the contest.

After the fight, coach Shane McGuigan revealed he thought Dubois had damaged ligaments in his knee.

Dubois wasn’t impressed with his display early doors, saying: “I wasn’t even there in the first round, but that shot woke me up.”

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He said of the stunning comeback finish: “I just saw I was landing shots and it was hurting him.

“So I just thought, ‘I’ve just got to pick it.’ I saw the opening and I went for it.”