Caroline Dubois: A New Beginning

Caroline Dubois: A New Beginning

For Caroline Dubois, her new beginning started in December. A new promotional home that is seemingly littered with potential opponents. 2026 has the potential to push her career to another stratosphere.

The 25-year-old left Boxxer late last year to join Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions. A short notice defence of her WBC world lightweight title against the Italian challenger Camilla Panatta ended with Dubois once again showing her class and potential. A one-sided points decision got the show back on the road after nine months out of the ring. But the victory over Panatta looks like being a mere starter before several main courses that could come her way this year.

Dubois has made no secret of her desire to get the big fights. Career-defining fights that will elevate her standing in the sport. 2026 is when those fights will arrive.

The natural fight, a fight a long time in the making, is an all-British unification showdown with the WBO bauble holder Terri Harper. They have exchanged numerous words on social media, and now they are both signed to the MVP revolution; the natural fight becomes an easy fight to make. If both Dubois and Harper truly want it, it will almost certainly get made. There are seemingly no obvious obstacles in the way.

Dubois and Harper is a good old-fashioned grudge match, and one that would be a good introduction for MVP to do a show on UK soil. In many ways, it ticks many boxes, maybe every box, for all parties. For both, it should be signed, sealed, and delivered in the opening months of the new year.

But Terri Harper isn’t the only name on the Caroline Dubois 2026 shopping list. The former undisputed world super-featherweight champion, Alycia Baumgardner, has been trading intense verbals with her fellow MVP fighter. Baumgardner and Dubois shared a card in December. Dubois made her MVP debut. The war of words continued. Baumgardner has practically cleaned out her division and will surely move up to lightweight this year, seeking fresh challenges. There is a ready-made rival waiting for her. Baumgardner is no stranger to a simmering feud. Another one might be incoming. At some point in 2026, Dubois vs. Baumgardner needs to get made. Dubois says she and Baumgardner need each other. She is right.

Stephanie Han, the WBA world lightweight champion, is coming off a recent win over Holly Holm and is another MVP fighter. A unification fight with Han hasn’t really got any traction, but if the Harper fight doesn’t get over the line, it might become a little more of a priority. But with Han possibly having to fight Stevie Morgan next or even a rematch with Holm, a fight between Dubois and Han is more likely to be later rather than sooner.

The recently crowned IBF champion, Elif Nur Turhan, isn’t aligned with the Jake Paul revolution of women’s boxing, and if she wants a unification showdown with her fellow world lightweight title holders, she might be disappointed, at least in the short term. With Dubois having potential opponents on her own doorstep, Elf Nur Turhan might have to wait. But if Dubois manages to secure big fights with Harper and Han, and wins, an undisputed showdown with the fighter who has just blown away Beatriz Ferreira could be one of the biggest fights out there for the female side of the sport at some point in 2027.

Whoever is next, Caroline Dubois is moving into the next phase of her career. An unbeaten world champion who has a potentially unlimited ceiling. But the next twelve months will almost certainly determine just how high that ceiling is. The decision to sign with MVP looks like being the perfect move at the perfect time.