And with the bout in the balance, a simple jab from Joyce prompted Dubois to pause before taking a knee in round 10 when he failed to beat the count.
https://twitter.com/Rickyboylan1/status/1332854894995320837Joyce had been widely written off and he was as big as a 3-1 outsider against Dubois, who had been impressive in his professional career so far but was untested.
He remains undefeated and walks away with the British, Commonwealth and European titles. More significantly, he came through a high-risk fight and will eye world honours while Dubois goes through a short-term rebuild.
"I'm ready for Oleksandr Usyk", said Joyce, a 2016 Olympic silver medallist.
"Daniel has got some power but I've felt power like that before. With my experience I've learnt to ride them."
Dubois - who was quickly taken to hospital for a check on his eye - told BT Sport: "He caught me with a good jab - I couldn't see out of the eye. It just happens."