Caroline Dubois wants to be three-weight undisputed champion and retire by 30
2025-01-10
Category: sports

Caroline Dubois is in boxing for a good time, not necessarily a long time."I want to be undisputed in three weight divisions and then retire, call it a day - all before 30. That would be sick," Britain's world lightweight champion says.Dubois will mark her 24th birthday by making a first defence of her WBC title against Canada's Jessica Camara in Sheffield on Saturday.She was upgraded to world champion in December after Katie Taylor opted to vacate the belt. 
Dubois joined estranged sibling, heavyweight champion Daniel, in becoming the United Kingdom's first brother and sister to simultaneously hold world titles, and only the second in boxing worldwide.Despite the absence of an in-ring crowning moment and those infamous "and the new" words from a ring announcer, Dubois is relishing her world champion tag - and promises to knock out Camara at the Canon Medical Arena."I want to make a statement and let the world know that Caroline Dubois is a world champion and she will reign for a very long time," she adds."There's going to be bigger nights, bigger fights. Definitely harder nights and hard fights, and undisputed is the goal for me now."
No regrets over Taylor & marquee fights targeted
Dubois has long been tipped for greatness, ever since shining in the Youth Olympics. She was calling out the sport's biggest names more than 18 months ago, but her professional career has been carefully managed.Although a fight with Taylor may have provided the passing-of-the-torch moment and catapulted her profile to new heights, Dubois is no longer chasing the Irish superstar."I don't feel like I need Katie Taylor, and to be honest she doesn't need me right now, so it is what it is," she says."That's not me trying to be disrespectful or anything, it's just I would still be happy if our careers never crossed. It doesn't really matter to me because I feel like I'm going to make my own legacy."
Dubois is expected to beat underdog Camara. From then on, it is "big fights" and marquee names. Dubois mentions the likes of Mikaela Mayer and Alycia Baumgardner as future opponents.The more immediate task, however, is to unify the division in 2025 by claiming the vacant WBA title and beating IBF champion Beatriz Ferreira and WBO belt-holder Terri Harper.Dubois is particularly dismissive of compatriot Harper, and was unimpressed by the Doncaster fighter's win over Rhiannon Dixon in September."I thought she fought the fight really afraid, really scared, really on the back foot. It didn't show me the desire and the heart required to be a world champion," Dubois says.
'I'd be broken without boxing' 
The Hackney-born fighter's elevation to world champion capped a great year for the Dubois name after Daniel legitimised his world-title reign with a dominant win over Anthony Joshua in September.The siblings joined light-middleweight champion Sebastian Fundora and undisputed flyweight queen Gabriela Fundora in becoming a brother-sister world champions.But the feat was bitter-sweet. Dubois left her family home following a rift with her father, Stan, in 2023 and has reportedly not spoken to her brother either.Stan and his daughter have given their versions of the feud in separate interviews, and without getting too drawn into the details, the boxing champion says the sport provided solace during some "dark moments"."I just keep reminding myself of the positives and the blessings instead of all the sadness and the negatives that come with being a human being," Dubois adds. "How many people are going to say they wanted to do something at nine years old and be doing it at 24?"If boxing was taken away from me tomorrow, I would be devastated. I would be broken. So you just remember that when it gets a little bit tough."