Caroline Dubois: “I don’t see the point of just fighting people I should beat. I am training to fight the best in the world, so why not just go in there and do it.”

Caroline Dubois: “I don’t see the point of just fighting people I should beat. I am training to fight the best in the world, so why not just go in there and do it.”

It had been a long day already for Caroline Dubois. But there was still one more training session to go. A relentless grind that is six days long with up to three sessions a day. It is done without complaint, the price Dubois is willing to pay for what lies ahead. The blue-chip prospect who is seemingly set for superstardom.

The man at the helm is Shane McGuigan. Like many in that thriving stable, Dubois is tipped to reach the pinnacle of her sport. McGuigan in no time at all has established himself as one of the best trainers in the sport. The similarities with Dubois are obvious.

Dubois has talent and plenty of it, but it needs nurturing. In the wrong hands, it could be wasted. McGuigan is a safe pair of hands, and that fact isn’t lost on his fighter.

“Our stable is doing amazing at the minute, and Shane is the captain of all that. He’s the one who is pushing the boat and making sure everyone is staying on the right path,” Dubois told me over Zoom. “Shane is dedicating all his time to us, and I think he is doing a great job. His work is being displayed on the big stage. We have two world champions already in the gym with Ellie Scotney and Chris Billiam-Smith.”

Fighters come and go. McGuigan isn’t immune to the revolving door of talent of a boxing gym. His record speaks for itself with the past and the present. Dubois believes it is the meticulous preparation of McGuigan that is the secret of the gym’s success:

“It’s just how he breaks things down, I think he is a very good coach. His previous fighters have been amazing. Fighters like Josh Taylor, Chantelle Cameron, Carl Frampton, and Daniel. When he was with them, he was able to figure out all their strong and weak points. He breaks them down and works out what you are good at, and makes you better at that. And with your weak points, he tries to smooth them over so you are not so open when you are in the ring.”

Dubois is only 22, just seven fights into her professional journey, and she is already calling out the biggest names in the sport. And with good reason. Dubois feels she is ready. It really is that simple. But there is no arrogance with Dubois. Only confidence.

“Female boxing moves fast, I’ve seen it, I’ve witnessed it,” Dubois says. “If you look at Katie Taylor, she fought for a world title in her seventh fight. Sandy Ryan is winning a world title and now challenging Jessica McCaskill for her belts in her eighth fight. If you see how female fighters move, we don’t have that much depth. So we either wait for ages fighting and beating girls we should be beating and knocking out or we crack that whip and move on and challenge the people at the top and that’s what I have been doing.”

The temptation to pad her record with meaningless victories isn’t a road Dubois wants to go down. A refreshing attitude in a sport that so often resides in the land of avoidance. Dubois remembers her successful amateur days, where virtually every fight meant something:

“I miss the amateurs where you fight in tournaments against the best in the world. You turn up, and you have Olympic medallists and world champions, and when you win, it means so much more. Even when you lose, you learn so much, and you think next time I am going to get you. I just miss that energy and that buzz. I have no ambition to just sit pretty waiting around just wracking up my record with names and numbers, I want some meaning behind it. I am ready, and I don’t see the point of just fighting people I should beat. I am training to fight the best in the world, so why not just go in there and do it.”

Dubois has repeatedly called out the former unified world super-featherweight champion Mikaela Mayer. For many reasons, it won’t happen anytime soon. But nobody is saying Dubois is on ‘Fantasy Island’ for calling out Mayer. It is where Dubois wants to be. In truth, she is probably already there. Even when she is labelled the best prospect in the sport it doesn’t seem to faze the ambitious Dubois.

“I believe in myself, and it is what I aim for. I want to be the best, and when people say that, it means I am doing the right thing, and people are taking notes.” Words from Dubois that are not said from ignorance of her sport.

But Dubois is realistic about her immediate future. With Katie Taylor seemingly set for a revenge fight with Chantelle Cameron later this year, and possibly another rematch with Amanda Serrano after that, the world lightweight titles are probably tied up for the next 6-8 months. Although there is every chance the titles could be splintered if Taylor is unable to honour any forthcoming mandatories that may come her way in the coming months:

“All the belts are tied up, and it’s frustrating waiting for them, but there is nothing I can do about that. I just have to wait and my time will come,” Dubois says with both frustration and realism. “I have to make myself mandatory and win a few interim belts, and when my time comes, I have to be ready for it.”

But there are still fights on the horizon for Dubois until the path clears for her maiden world title opportunity.

“There are lots of fights I am happy to be part of. There is Firuza Sharipova, who fought Katie Taylor,” Dubois told FightPost. “Domestically, there is a fight with Rhiannon Dixon down the line or even Delfine Persoon. There are a few girls in and around the weight who are pretty decent and carry a big name. It will be interesting to see who is out there and who is willing to step up to the challenge and take me on. They are very talented and very skilful and I just need them to get in the ring with me now.”

A big domestic fight with the Anthony Crolla-trained Rhiannon Dixon could have triple-title implications if they meet somewhere down the line. Dixon, the current Commonwealth lightweight champion, will look to add the European title to her collection in September, and if a British title is added to the mix, a future Dixon/Dubois clash could be for three major titles. The Shane McGuigan-trained prospect is more than interested in a fight with the unbeaten Dixon:

“They did the British title with Lauren Price and Kirstie Bavington, so it will be interesting if they did that with me and Rhiannon. She is fighting for the European title soon, so if she wins that, maybe we can get something on afterwards. Hopefully, she wins because I think it will be a good fight. She is a neat and tidy fighter, she’s got a lot of good skills and she has got a really good coach behind her. It is a fight I would be very interested in.”

The lofty heights women’s boxing enjoys today are a far cry from when Dubois first insisted that boxing was for her. She calls her father a fighting man, and after seeing her passion and obvious talent for the sport, he took her to the Repton Amateur Boxing Club. But they were different times. Difficult times. A lack of acceptance led to Caroline calling herself Colin just so she could even get through the door. But Dubois wouldn’t take no for an answer. As Colin, she was a future world champion. As Caroline, nobody wanted to know. But one by one, the doubters were convinced. Now everyone wants to know.

“Most of the clubs back then didn’t accept female fighters. There was nothing for them. There were no Olympics or anything like, so they thought, why should we take a female fighter,” Dubois said of those times of prejudice. “When I started boxing, I didn’t really have any ambitions as an amateur. I didn’t really know what there was out there. I just wanted to box, I just wanted to get in the ring. I enjoyed watching boxing, I enjoyed watching all the big fights. I loved watching the Contender series. That was my Love Island. I just wanted to experience that and see what boxing was all about.”

Mike Costello, the former long-time BBC commentator and now the voice of DAZN, said of the future Olympian in 2018 when Dubois was only 17, “I’m tempted to call Caroline Dubois the best female boxer I’ve ever seen.” The words of Costello look to be incredibly near the mark. Dubois might not be there just yet, but she is well on her way.

Dubois is looking to return in September. She is a fighter in a rush. The doors might be locked right now on the world stage, but she has unlocked many doors in her life and career. Don’t rule out Dubois doing it again. Costello might just have been right.

Photo Credit: Lawrence Lustig/Boxxer