Caroline Dubois has revealed she entered her recent fight with Terri Harper while unwell, waking up on the morning of the bout with a temperature.
Dubois became the unified lightweight world champion, outpointing Harper in a bloody decision. The event marked the first UK-based venue for Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions, but it wasn’t easy for their headliner.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ Toe2Toe podcast, Dubois described it as “terrible, terrible luck.”
“I woke up on the day with a god awful temperature, my head was burning up, I felt hot and cold and I thought, my god, of all days, this is the day.”
What’s next for Caroline Dubois after unifying belts?
Even so, she produced a performance strong enough to win by scores of 98-91 twice and 97-92, unifying the WBC and WBO lightweight titles.
The scores were a little wide given how cagey the early rounds were, but once Dubois put Harper down in the sixth, she took control, even with Harper boxing well and trying to press in the closing rounds.
The road to undisputed
So what next for Dubois? With two belts in hand, the natural progression is the road to undisputed. The WBA and IBF titles are held by El Paso’s Stephanie Han and Turkey’s Elif Nur Turhan, respectively.
Han (12-0, 3 KOs) is scheduled for a rematch with Holly Holm at the end of May, so she is tied up for now. As of writing, Turhan does not have a fight scheduled. She was last out in January, winning a split decision over Taylah Gentzen on the Josh Kelly vs Murtazaliev undercard in Newcastle.
Turhan is an interesting option. She has a belt, yes, but she also carries a 62 percent knockout ratio, which is far from the norm in the female code. The average knockout rate of the current pound-for-pound top ten is 32 percent.
Luckily for Turhan (13-0, 8 KOs), that belt gives her some leverage for others to take a risk against her.
Although her KO rate is high, Turhan’s actual boxing skill leaves a little to be desired, but she gets the job done, often in devastating fashion, as Brazil’s two-time Olympic medallist Beatriz Ferreira can attest to.
Even so, Dubois will likely feel she has the attributes to navigate Turhan’s power and add another belt to her cabinet.
Belts aside, there could be a more lucrative option across the pond in the form of Alycia Baumgardner. The pair have been back and forth on socials, and nothing sells better than genuine beef.
Baumgardner had plenty to say about Dubois’ performance at the weekend, rating it ‘C level’.
She is one of the biggest names in women’s boxing for numerous reasons and would be a financially beneficial match-up for Dubois.
“The fight that I’m interested in is Alycia ‘The Bomb’ Baumgardner’ Dubois stated in her post-fight press conference on Sunday evening.
“We’ll see who truly is the best, and I believe that’s me, that’s the fight I want by the end of the year.
“There’s no need to waste time, there’s no need to mess around. Let’s make it happen.”
Baumgardner defends her IBF, WBA, and WBO super featherweight belts against Bo Mi Re Shin, a former opponent of Dubois, on the 17th of this month.
If she emerges unscathed, a lightweight collision with Dubois feels inevitable.
Both sit under the ever-growing female stable at Most Valuable Promotions, so they should be relatively easy to make.
If made, the build-up alone could generate as much attention as the fight itself.
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