Caroline Dubois was inspired by Katie Taylor and the first women’s Olympic boxing champions when she was a child. But now Dubois is looking to force a fight with Taylor, and intends to continue calling out the Irish superstar.
If Dubois can beat Maira Moneo in their fight on Saturday, live on Sky Sports, she will win the WBC interim lightweight title. While Taylor is currently boxing in the division above, she still holds the WBC’s full world championship at 135lbs.
“When I win this fight Saturday I will be her mandatory. So she’s got two options. Either vacate or fight me and it’s as simple as that,” Dubois told Sky Sports.
“I need to keep calling her name just so people know I’m about it and I’m serious.
“If you don’t speak out people forget about you. Katie knows what’s up.”
Moneo, though, promises to be a rough opponent on Saturday. The Uruguayan’s sole professional defeat was due to a head-butt disqualification.
But Dubois warned that if Moneo tries any foul tactics: “I’ll do them right back.
“I’m going to punch her up and knock her out.”
Dubois needs to deliver. But she says: “I focus on stepping in the ring and kicking ass. That’s my focus. If I care about how I look when I step in the ring and how I perform, there’s no pressure.
“If I win people will talk about me. If I lose, then people forget about me. So the focus is on winning and how I win.”
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Dubois shows her eagerness for a showdown with Katie Taylor after her fight against Moneo
Although Dubois is a young professional, she became used to high expectations as a stellar amateur. She was undefeated as a youth and junior, winning world and European championships in her rise through those categories.
She only met defeat for the first time as a senior boxer, but endured her most painful loss, when she exited the last Olympic Games before reaching the medal stages.
But she is convinced now that that experience will help her in future.
“People started realising this girl is undefeated every time I turned up to a tournament,” Dubois said. “I started worrying about not losing versus winning and I think that’s the problem.
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Dubois outclassed Miranda Reyes but could not find a stoppage despite landing plenty of hurtful combinations
“There is a difference. I just think learning from that experience I need to be more concerned about winning than I am about losing.
“I remember being a kid at 11 years old watching Katie, Claressa [Shields] and Nicola [Adams]. I wanted to go to the Olympics after watching them at London. I wanted to win gold after watching them at London.
“They ignited that dream, ever since I was a little kid, up until I was 20 that’s all I ever wanted… To let it slip, it hurt a lot and it taught me a lot.”
Now she makes sure she is positive and aggressive when she takes on her opponents. That’s what Moneo can expect when they fight on Saturday.
With opponents like this, Dubois said: “You have to fight because everybody wants to win.
“All they have is the effort and the desire and they bring that each and every time and you have to match it.
“You have to want it more than them, you have to train harder than them and be more skilful than them. And that’s what I do each and every time.”
Watch Maira Moneo vs Caroline Dubois live on Sky Sports Action from 7.30pm on Saturday August 3.