Amelia Moore: “I am going for everything.”

Amelia Moore: “I am going for everything.”

“There is a possibility that the pros could be allowed to fight in the 2028 Olympics, and if that door opens, I will be going for that. I am going for everything.”

They were the words of Amelia Moore when we spoke last month. An extensive and successful amateur career that didn’t have that Olympic moment. Moore has been offered a glint of hope that might now change. A long-time dream that could be resurrected. But it’s that final part of her quote that has a more imminent ring to it. The American is indeed going for everything.

After just four fights in the pro ranks, the 36-year-old is rolling the dice. Moore will challenge arguably the best fighter in her division for her WBC and WBO world lightweight titles. Caroline Dubois will welcome the American to UK soil in August for what some might say is mission impossible. But Amelia Moore sees it differently. “I’ve got a brass set and lots of talent and fire,” Moore told me. “I’m focused on performance and everything else will play out.”

Moore deserves credit for accepting the fight. Nobody would have blamed her if she had said I need a little more experience before taking on someone with the ability of Dubois. The pro career of Moore is still in its embryonic stages. She is unbeaten but hasn’t yet been tested, at least not at this level. Moore hasn’t even had a scheduled ten-rounder yet. An eight-round points decision over Bonnie Hunter in March is the longest she has travelled. Moore seemingly has a seismic gap to bridge.

The betting odds give her little chance of victory. The unbeaten champion is odds-on to retain her world lightweight baubles. Dubois is 1/11 to win. You can get 18-1 if you fancy the upset. The odds are long. But I have seen longer.

Moore views this as an opportunity to gatecrash the big time. She brings a wealth of boxing experience to her fight with Dubois, even if that experience isn’t set in the world of professional boxing.

There is that extensive amateur career that included five national titles. There might only be four fights on her professional resume, but she has competed ten times, all wins, in the Team Combat League. In a perfect world, Moore might have preferred a little more experience before fighting someone like the surging Caroline Dubois, but opportunities rarely come around at the perfect moment. Opportunity has knocked. Amelia Moore has answered.

The odds might very well be stacked against her. Even Moore might admit that. But there is an impressive self-belief about a fighter who deserves credit for rolling the dice when many others undoubtedly would or already have made their excuses.